Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte — the original Black Forest gâteau

i. Origin & history

The Black Forest (Schwarzwald) is a forested mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, in Germany's south-west corner. It is known for cuckoo clocks, smoked ham and cherry orchards, and above all for Schwarzwälder Kirschwasser, a clear, dry brandy distilled from small dark cherries. The cake is named for that brandy, and the region has long paired cherries, cream and kirsch in desserts, including a simpler older dessert of cooked cherries with cream and kirsch.

The layered cake itself is a twentieth-century creation, and its exact origin is disputed. The claim most often repeated credits Josef Keller, a pastry chef who is said to have created it in 1915 at Café Agner in Bad Godesberg, near Bonn — well outside the Black Forest. The town of Tübingen and several Black Forest cafés have their own claims. What is better established is that the cake begins to appear in German confectionery literature in the 1930s, and that after the Second World War it became one of the most popular cakes in Germany, and then one of the best-known German desserts in the world.

Why 'Black Forest'? The kirsch is the main reason, but a popular secondary explanation links the cake's look — dark chocolate, white cream and red cherries — to the traditional women's costume of the region, a black dress, white blouse and the Bollenhut, a straw hat topped with red woollen pompoms. It is a nice story, but probably a later rationalisation.

The cake is taken seriously in Germany. The official guidelines for German bakery products specify that a Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte must contain kirschwasser in a quantity that can be clearly tasted, which is why the alcohol-free versions common in other countries would not be sold under the name there. In Britain in the 1970s and 1980s, the frozen 'Black Forest gâteau' became a dinner-party standard, usually much sweeter and with little or no kirsch.

ii. What the kirsch and the sour cherries do

Black Forest cake is a balancing act between rich and sharp. Chocolate sponge and whipped cream are both soft, fatty and mild; on their own they make a pleasant but bland cake. The kirsch and the sour cherries are what cut through that richness and give the cake its character.

The sponge is a cocoa genoise, made by whisking eggs and sugar until thick and pale and folding in flour, cornflour and cocoa. It contains little or no fat, which keeps it light but also makes it dry, and that is intentional: a dry sponge absorbs a kirsch syrup without collapsing. Brushing each layer with syrup moistens it, carries the brandy's sharp, almond-like flavour throughout the cake, and helps it slice cleanly.

Sour cherries — morello cherries, called Schattenmorellen in German — are the traditional fruit. Their acidity balances the cream far better than sweet cherries. They are usually bought in jars, and the juice is thickened with cornflour into a glossy compote that holds the fruit in place between the layers instead of bleeding into the cream.

The cream is the structural challenge. Whipped cream softens at room temperature and can weep under the weight of a tall cake. German bakers stabilise it with a little gelatine or a commercial cream stabiliser (Sahnesteif), which lets the cake be assembled ahead and hold sharp sides. Chilling the finished cake for several hours sets everything together and makes slicing much easier.

iii. Ingredients

Makes 16 servings · scroll the side panel to adjust

• 6 large eggs, room temperature
• 200 g caster sugar (sponge)
• 100 g plain flour
• 40 g cornflour (sponge)
• 40 g cocoa powder
• 1 pinch salt
• 50 g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 680 g jar of morello cherries in juice (about 350 g drained)
• 2 tbsp caster sugar (cherries)
• 25 g cornflour (cherries)
• 100 ml kirsch (Kirschwasser), divided
• 50 g caster sugar (syrup)
• 800 ml cold double or whipping cream
• 60 g icing sugar
• 2 tsp powdered gelatine (or 2 sachets cream stabiliser)
• 100 g dark chocolate, for shavings
• 16 fresh or cocktail cherries, to decorate

Kirschwasser is a clear, unsweetened cherry brandy, not cherry liqueur; sweet liqueurs such as cherry brandy or maraschino give a cloying cake. For an alcohol-free version, use the cherry juice and a few drops of almond extract in the syrup, but know that it is no longer the German original. Jarred morello cherries are what most German bakers use; fresh or frozen sour cherries work too, cooked briefly with sugar. Cornflour in the sponge makes it finer and more tender. Use a good, slightly bitter dark chocolate (around 60–70 per cent) for the shavings.

iv. Method

1. Heat the oven to 175 °C (350 °F), conventional heat. Line the base of a 26 cm springform tin with baking paper; do not grease the sides.
2. Whisk the eggs, 200 g sugar and salt with an electric mixer for 8–10 minutes until very thick, pale and tripled in volume, so a ribbon holds on the surface. Sift the flour, cornflour and cocoa together and fold in gently in three additions, then fold in the melted butter.
3. Pour into the tin and bake for 30–35 minutes, until springy and a skewer comes out clean. Cool upside down on a rack, then leave in the tin for several hours or overnight before slicing horizontally into three layers.
4. Drain the cherries, keeping 300 ml of juice. Mix a little juice with the cornflour, bring the rest to the boil with 2 tbsp sugar, stir in the cornflour paste and cook for 1 minute until thick and glossy. Stir in the cherries and 1 tbsp kirsch, and cool completely.
5. For the syrup, heat 50 ml water with 50 g sugar until dissolved, cool, then add the remaining kirsch, keeping back 2 tbsp for the cream.
6. Sprinkle the gelatine over 3 tbsp cold water, leave for 5 minutes, then warm gently until dissolved. Whip the cream with the icing sugar and the 2 tbsp kirsch to soft peaks, whisk in the slightly cooled gelatine, and whip to firm peaks.
7. Set the bottom sponge on a plate inside the clean springform ring. Brush with a third of the syrup, spread with the cherry compote, then a 1 cm layer of cream. Add the second sponge, brush with syrup and spread with cream. Top with the last sponge and brush with the rest of the syrup.
8. Chill for 30 minutes, remove the ring, and cover the top and sides with the remaining cream, keeping some for piping. Press chocolate shavings onto the sides, pipe 16 rosettes on top and set a cherry on each. Chill for at least 4 hours before slicing.

v. Tips & common mistakes

• Bake the sponge a day ahead. A fresh genoise crumbles when sliced. Rested overnight, it firms up and can be cut into three even layers.
• Do not grease the sides of the tin. The sponge climbs the sides as it bakes, and greased sides make it sink.
• Thicken the cherries properly. Thin cherry juice soaks the sponge and stains the cream pink. The compote should be thick enough to hold its shape on a spoon.
• Stabilise the cream. Without gelatine or stabiliser, a tall cake slumps and weeps within hours. Stabilised cream holds clean edges for a day or more.
• Be generous with the kirsch but not reckless. The cake should taste clearly of kirsch, as German rules require; pour it all into one layer, though, and the sponge turns soggy and the alcohol sharp.
• Use a vegetable peeler for the chocolate. Run it along the side of a slightly warm block for curls; chilled chocolate gives smaller shavings that are easier to press onto the sides.

vi. Variations

The traditional German Konditorei version often sits on a thin base of shortcrust pastry spread with cherry jam, which gives a firm foundation and a contrast in texture; this is still common in bakeries in Baden-Württemberg. Some modern versions use chocolate cream for one layer, and there are Black Forest roulades, trifles and cupcakes. A 'white Black Forest' replaces the chocolate sponge with a plain one.

Other famous German cakes built on cream and fruit include Donauwelle, with cherries baked into a marbled sponge, and the Bavarian Prinzregententorte, with many thin layers of sponge and chocolate buttercream. For a simpler German coffee-time cake, try Bienenstich.

vii. Serving & storage

Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte is served chilled, cut into tall wedges with a knife dipped in hot water and wiped between cuts. In Germany it is a cake for afternoon coffee and for celebrations — birthdays, anniversaries, weddings and family gatherings — and it is often found on café menus in the Black Forest itself, served with coffee.

Keep it refrigerated, loosely covered, and eat it within two to three days; the sponge softens as it absorbs the syrup and cherry juice, which many people prefer on day two. The unfilled sponge can be baked a day ahead or frozen for up to two months. A finished cake with stabilised cream can be frozen for up to a month, ideally without the chocolate shavings and cherries, which can be added after thawing overnight in the fridge.

ix. More from Austrian & German

• Bienenstich — German bee sting cake
• Donauwelle — Danube wave cake
• Prinzregententorte — Bavarian layer cake
• Käsekuchen — German quark cheesecake
• Blackout Cake — Brooklyn chocolate cake
• Sour Cherry Clafoutis — French baked cherry batter