Black Forest cake (Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte)

                                                                               Receta en Español

Last summer I visited the Black Forest in Germany , there I tried the famous Black Forest cake , I liked it very much, I could no skip this oportunity to make one of those marvellous cakes by myself.

It has become the most famous cake from Germany all over the world.

Its name evokes the darkness and mystery of this region, well known by its acid cherries from which they obtain a liqueur named 'Kirsch' or 'Kirschwasser'.

The combination of cherries, kirsch, cream and chocolate turn this cake into a tentation:

Ingredients for shortcrust pastry (25 cm diameter ):

• 120 g wheat flour.
• 1 teaspoon yeast.
• 2 tablespoon sugar.
• 1/2 sachet sugar vanilla taste.
• A pinch of Salt.
• 60 grams butter.
• 1 egg yolk.

Ingredients for chocolate sponge cake  (25 cm de diameter):

• 6 egg yolk.
• 3 tablespoon warm water.
• 200 grams of sugar.
• 1/2 sachet sugar vanilla taste.
• 6 egg white.
• 150 grams wheat flour.
• 75 grams cornstarch.
• 2 teaspoon yeast.
• 50 grams cocoa powder.
• A pinch of cinnamon.

Ingredients for the Whipped cream:

• 1  liter of cream ,at least 35.1% fat.
• 60 grams sugar.
• 1 sachet sugar vanilla taste.
• 3 gelatin sheets.
• 4 tablespoon kirsch.

Ingredients for cherries:

• 1  SauerKirchen pot (500 grams). They are seedless and with added sugar . 
• 3 tablespoon sugar.
• A pinch of cinnamon.
• 2 tablespoon cornstarch.
• 5 tablespoon kirsch.

To decorate:

•  50 grams black chocolate.
•  12  SauerKirchen (taken from the SauerKirchen pot).

To assemble the cake, you will need the shortcrust pastry, chocolate sponge cake and Sauerkirchen to be cold, becuase of that reason it is better to cook them on the previous day.

How to prepare the shortcrust pastry:

1.  Soft butter at room temperature.

2.  Put egg,sugar and butter in a bowl and whisk.

3.    Add sifted flour and yeast.

4.   Whisk until the mixture is uniform.

5.   Now knead the mixture, just a little until you get a little ball. Wrap the dough in a cling film , put it half an hour in the fridge.

6.  Meanwhile prepare a cake mold ;put parchment paper on the base and a little oil on the sides of the mold.

7.  Stretch the dough with a rolling pin, don't knead the dough , the more you knead it, the easier it breaks. Put the dough into the mold.

8.  Preheat oven at 180 ºC.

9.  Cook the pastry in the oven at 160 ºC, place it in the middle of the oven with heat over and below. Cook for 10 -15 minutes:

How to prepare chocolate sponge cake:

10.  Separate whites and yolks, put the whites in a bowl with a pinch of salt.

11.  Beat egg whites until they are consistent like in the picture, you can make some peaks that remains:

12.  Put the 6 egg yolks in another bowl together with 3 tablespoon of warm water.

13.  whisk for 5 minutes.

14.  Put sugar into the bowl , keep on whisking for 10 - 15 more minutes.

15. Add sugar with vanilla taste and keep on whisking.

16. Add cinnamon and whisk.

17. Add wheat flour, cornstartch and cocoa, all of them sifted.

18. Add yeast and mix all very well.

19. Add the beaten egg whites we prepared at point 11, mix little by little with envelopping movements.

20. Prepare another mold with butter or parchment paper, Add the mixture into the mold. Prehat oven at 200 ºC.

21. Put the mold into the oven and cook at 200 ºC for half an hour, with heat over and below the cake. It is cooked when you poke the cake with a knife and you take it out clean.

How to prepare the Sauerkirchen (cherries):

22.  Take the juice of the cherries pot with the help of a strainer.

22.  Mix the juice with sugar, cinnamon and kirsch, cook until sugar is disolved.

23.  Take a little of the liquid of the point 22 and pour it into a cup, add cornstartch. Mix well and pour it again into the casserole of point 22, mix well.

24.   Add Sauerkirchen into the casserole and let them cook a little, the juice must remain with a gelatinous consistency, don't stir too much , this way the cherries will not break.

Keep 12 cherries apart to decorate the cake.

Whipped cream:

25.  You can follow this tips to whippe the cream: whipped cream.

26.  You should take into account that you must add differents ingredients to whippe the cream, attention to the quantities of this recipe , we should add the sugar with vanilla taste , a part from the sugar. When the cream is already whipped ,it is time to add kirsch (see point 27,28 and 29).

27.  Take the gelatin sheets and put them 5 minutes into warm water.

28.  Now take the gelatin sheets from the water and put them in a casserole together with the kirsch. Put on a low heat, gelatin will disolve little by little, use your fingers to stir.

29.  Once the gelatin is disolved add the mixture to the whipped cream little by little, mix with the help of a spoon.

Assemble the cake:

30.   Take the shortcrust pastry , put it on the base of a removable mold for cakes (I put parchement paper on the bottom ).

Spread some prepared juice of the cherries over the shortcrust pastry (without the cherries) .

31. Cut chocolate sponge cake in 3 layers.

32.  Place the lower layer of the sponge cake over the shortcrust pastry.

33.  Put a layer of cherries, put more quantity in the middle, let the sides free.

34.  Use the mold to place the layers right:

35.  Put a layer of whipped cream to cover the cherries:

36.  Put the second layer of chocolate sponge cake.

35. Wet the sponge cake with a little kirsch.

36.  Add whipped cream to cover all the surface of the sponge cake.

37.  Put the third layer of the sponge cake , now you can take out the mold.

38.  Wet the sponge cake with a little kirsch.

39.  Cover the cake with the rest of whipped cream, cover the sides of the cake too.

40.  Decorate the surface with the 12 cherries, and some drawings with the cream.

41.  Grate some black chocolate with the help of a knife. Grate it into the shape of wood chips:

42.  Put the black chocolate chips over and on the sides of the cake.

Now yoy have the cake, you can keep it in the fridge.

Where to find the ingredients in Madrid

I bought kirsk at 'Corte Inglés' . I found the SauerKirschen at 'Mantequería Alemana' at Padilla 88  ,metro Diego de León.

Germany

Burundi

 By MONUSCO Photos (Burundian refugees children on tree.) [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

De Spesh531 - Trabajo propio, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20071828

Recipes from Burundi that I cooked:

Ndizi (fried plantain)

Ibiharage (Burundi's beans)

Date and Banana cake 

By No machine-readable author provided. SKopp assumed (based on copyright claims). [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Pork knuckle with Sauerkraut (Eisbein mit Sauerkraut)

Receta en Español

This is the most typical dish in Germany , You can find in it the basic ingredients in Germany dishes: meat, cabbage and potatos.

Ingredients:

• 1  big pork knuckle.
• 1 bay leaf.
• 4 peppercorns.
• 2 onions.
• Sauerkraut.
• 2 tablespoon oil.
• a pinch of sugar.
• 6 juniper berries.
• 125 ml white wine.
• 1 apple.
• a pinch of salt.
• a pinch of ground cumin.
• 3 or 4 potatos.

Method:

1.  Cut 1 onion into pieces. Pour a little olive oil in the pressure cooker , sautée onion.

2.  Wash the pork knuckle, salt and put inside the pressure cooker, sautée it.

3. Add bay leaf and pepper.

4. Pour water until the pork knuckle is covered.

5. Close the pressure cooker , put on a high heat.  Once the steam starts to come out,  put on a low heat and cook for 1 hour.

6. Now we prepare Sauerkraut in another casserole: cut 1 onion into pieces ,sautée.

7. Add Sauerkraut, wine, bay leaf, juniper berries and the apple cut into pieces. Heat at medium heat for 30 or 40 minutes.

8. Add sugar, pepper, cumin and salt. Cook for 3 more minutes. And Sauerkraut is ready.

9.  Wash potatos and cut them into 4 pieces, cook them with salt and water. You can use the pressure cooker , it takes 10 minutes once the steam starts to come out and you put in on a low heat.

10. Once potatos are cooked, peel and crush them with the help of a fork, add salt, olive oil and parsley.

11. Serve the pork knuckle accompanied by Sauerkraut and potatos.

My comments to the recipe:

Sauerkraut mixed with apple, wine is very tasty. Juniper berries go well with Sauerkraut. Pork knuckle is also wonderful accompanied by the Sauerkraut.

Where to find the ingredients:

Juniper berries can be bought in Madrid at 'Mantequería alemana' calle Padilla 88, metro Diego de León.

Sauerkraut can be bought , but also can be done as I present you in my previous article: Sauerkraut.

Germany