American Cakes – Black Forest Cake History by Gil Marks +
Recipe from The History Kitchen
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Editor’s Note: This post was written by Gil Marks before he passed away, along with another American Cakes post which will be published next month. Gil’s column American Cakes was a favorite with readers and he will be greatly missed. Read our tribute to Gil here.
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“‘Just as well,’ Killinworth said as the waiter brought a silver platter heaped with tarts, meringues, eclairs and slices of obscenely rich Black Forest cake.”
—Murder in the Smithsonian by Margaret Truman (1985)
The central European Schwarzwälder kirschtorte, known as Black Forest cherry cake or Black Forest cake in America and Black Forest gateau in Britain, consists of layers of chocolate sponge cake moistened with a cherry brandy-flavored sugar syrup, then layered with whipped cream and sour cherries (Schattenmorellen). Austrians and Swiss prefer whipped cream for the filling, typically stabilized with gelatin or cornstarch, while some German versions tend to contain a heavier filling of buttercream (or a combination of buttercream and whipped cream) and reserve whipped cream only for the top and sides. The classic look is completed with a circle of cherries around the upper rim and chocolate shavings on the top and/or sides of the torte.
The cake is named for Schwarzwalder kirschwasser (a clear brandy distilled from sour cherries), a specialty of the Black Forest region (Der Schwarzwald) in the state of Baden-Württemberg of southwestern Germany. The torte may have grown out of a nineteenth century southern German practice of serving poached sour cherries with whipped cream accented with kirsch. Or it may have actually originated in Vienna or Switzerland and then spread throughout central Europe in the early twentieth century, becoming so popular in Switzerland that they consider it the national dessert. Kirsch is also made in neighboring Alsace and Switzerland, but the numerous distillers of Der Schwarzwald using locally-grown fruit have long produced brandies of unsurpassed quality. This means that the dish was not necessarily native to the Black Forest region, but rather contained the spirit associated with it. The chocolate cake also evokes the darkness of a forest.
The origin of Black Forest cake is a matter of contention. As the cake grew increasingly famous in the 1930s, its creation was attributed to several German pastry chefs, including Josef Keller of the Café Ahrend in Bad Godesberg in 1915 or 1927 (although no verifiable proofs of the cake from either of those times exist) and Erwin Hildenbrand of the Café Walz in Tübingen in 1930. The first known record of the term Schwarzwälder kirschtorte was in the German cookbook 250 Konditorei-Spezialitäten und wie sie entstehen by J.M. Erich Weber (Dresden, 1934). Within a few years, nearly every German bakery offered their version of Schwarzwälder kirschtorte and within a few decades it emerged as one of the most famous cakes in the world.
Black Forest cakes began appearing in the United States in the early 1960s. Unlike most other European tortes, Black Forest cake was widely adopted by Americans, who soon proffered it in bakeries and upscale restaurants and made versions at home. The recipe quickly moved from American cookbooks featuring German fare to generic works. Unlike “German chocolate cake,” which is an American innovation, Black Forest cake is the most popular chocolate cake from Germany (or Switzerland) in America. March 28 became Black Forest Cake Day.
The essence of the original Black Forest cake is the noticeable presence and kick of kirsch, but American reproductions all too frequently omit any alcohol. In addition, many Americans substitute a devil’s food cake or even a vanilla butter cake for the characteristic European sponge. Another frequent American modification is to use a cooked filling made from sweet cherries (sour cherries are much more common in Europe than America), which holds up better to a firm butter cake than whipped cream and produces a much sweeter and heavier treat. Some German Schwarzwälder kirschtorte feature a bottom layer of chocolate short pastry, which is practically unknown in America.
In pondering the widespread popularity of this treat, it occurred to me that most everyone loves chocolate covered cherries. This cake encapsulates that confection’s combination of chocolate, cherries, and cream. The white, red, and black colors are eye-catching and the flavors and textures varied, yet complementary. It is light, moist, and rich, but not too sweet. Black Forest cherry torte is an elegant cake, but not fussy or pretentious, perfect for fancy occasions or when you just want to indulge a bit.
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Black Forest Cherry Cake
Ingredients
‘Drunken’ Cherries in Soaking Liquid Ingredients
- 1 pound bottled or canned pitted sour cherries - Morello or Montmorency cherries or poached and pitted fresh cherries
- 1/4 cup cherry juice or dry red wine or any combination
- 1/8 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup kirsch
Chocolate Cake Ingredients
- 1 cup butter
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup boiling water
Whipped-Cream Frosting Ingredients
- 3 cups heavy whipping cream
- 12 ounces mascarpone cheese
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 4-6 tablespoons sugar more or less to taste
- 8-12 glace cherries or drained maraschino cherries optional
- chocolate shavings for garnish optional
NOTES
Instructions
- To prepare the cherries: In a small saucepan, stir the cherry juice and sugar over medium-low heat until the sugar dissolves. Stop stirring, increase the heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil. Boil for 1 minute.
- Remove from the heat and pour over the cherries. Stir in the kirsch and let macerate at room temperature, stirring occasionally, for at least 4 hours. Drain, reserving the soaking liquid.Position a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F (325°F for a convection oven). Grease three 9-inch springform or other round cake pans, line with parchment paper or wax paper, grease again, and dust with flour.
- In a large mixing bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time.
- Sift together the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and salt. Alternately add the dry ingredients, the milk and vanilla into the butter and sugar mixture, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Mix until just incorporated.
- Add the boiling water and beat for one minute. The mixture will look shiny, loose and well combined.
- Divide the batter equally between the prepared pans, tilting to level the surface. Bake until the cake springs back when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 20 minutes.
- Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then loosen the edges with a sharp knife and invert onto wire racks. Remove the paper, invert the cake, and let cool completely, at least 1 hour.
- To make the whipped cream: In the bowl of stand mixer, whip the cream to soft peaks. Add sugar and vanilla extract. Gently mix in mascarpone until well combined.
- To assemble: Place a cake layer on a serving platter. Generously brush or sprinkle with the cherry soaking liquid.
- Spread with one-fourth of the whipped cream.
- Then arrange half of the marinated cherries in the whipped cream.
- Sprinkle a second cake layer with about 1 tablespoon soaking liquid, carefully invert over the bottom layer, and sprinkle the top with about 1 tablespoon soaking liquid. Spread with one-third of the remaining whipped cream and arrange the remaining marinated cherries over top. Sprinkle the remaining cake layer with about 1 tablespoon soaking liquid, invert over the cake, and sprinkle the top with about 1 tablespoon soaking liquid. Frost the top of the cake with a thinner layer of whipped cream.
- Frost the sides of the cake.
- Spoon any remaining whipped cream into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip and pipe rosettes around the top edge of the cake or drop dollops of the cream with a spoon.
- If using, top each rosette with a glace cherry. Sprinkle the top of the cake with the chocolate shavings, if desired. This cake is best served on the day it is assembled.
Nutrition
I have been cooking and baking for fifty plus years and consider myself above average. Has anyone tried the cake itself? I do not know what went wrong as the recipe was pretty straight forward. The cake layers were the worse ever. I figured they would be dense but nothing like what turned out. I followed the instructions to the limit and they were a disaster. All of my ingredients were fresh and exact. I dislike leaving a negative comment but I wouldn’t want someone else spend the time and effort for such a wreck. The layers were so dense that the Kirsch could not even be absorbed. The icing was very good. Too bad!
RK
I’m sorry you didn’t have a better experience with this cake, Philip. I have been making it for years with no issues, so I can’t say what went wrong for you. The layers certainly should not be dense.
First I have to say that I love your recipes. I´d need more time for cooking though. Thanks a lot for sharing.
Regarding Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte just a little hint from a “European” – Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte is not central european, it is german. Europe consists of lots of different countries and every country has its own and very unique culture.
As you correctly pointed out in your description the Torte was named after the Black Forest region in Germany and does contain Kirschwasser, also from the aforementioned region, and therefore it is a specialty of this country and region and in no way central european.
Successful famous dishes always get “stolen” by crooks – countries or individuals – which claim to be the original source.
Unfortunately it´s also not true that some german versions of Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte use buttercream or a mix of buttercream and whipped cream. Whipped cream is used in the original recipe and I have never ever eaten this ´”original” version of the Kirschtorte with buttercream or a mix of buttercream and whipped cream and if you have then you have eaten some kind of buttercream cherry cake / Torte but not the original.
Just a tad bit of torten-history from a ” real central European”:-))
I, too, am a real European, and I concur. I have been eating Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte (selbstverständlich mit Kirschgeist) for decades — from various professional bakeries (they are called Konditoreien) and hobby bakers. Never have I tasted a version with buttercream. It’s always whipped cream.
Melino and Katja – as noted above, I used an updated whipped cream frosting with marscapone to make it more stable. Whipped cream frosting has a tendency to deflate over time; the marscapone makes it firmer without adding any cheese flavor. Feel free to substitute plain whipped cream if you wish to make it more traditional. 🙂
And now just to find a replacement for the marscapone cheese for us lactose intolerant people. I remember from my youth that German buttercream was made with custard, which makes it a little less sweet, but does not overpower the subtle cherry and chocolate flavors. Alternatively, a whipped cream stiffened with gelatin was used for filling and decorating Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte. And the layers soaked with lots of kirschwasser brandy — a perfect combination. Serve with a cup of freshly brewed Jacobs Kaffee.
Gelatin is an interesting idea, and might make the whipped cream more stable.
Yum! what a fine balance between cake layers, cherries and whipped cream, Black forest cake is just genius!
Tori: I have a question not related to this recipe, and this is the only avenue to ask it.
Do you use/recommend a type of food mill? I have an old aluminum one, but wish ti replace it. I just emailed you not realizing I have your address.
Thank you,
Sue
PS when I try to use the like button on your website, to like you on facebook, it simply blackens the page and opens a blank white oblong box. I will go to fb and look for you there, but I thought you might like to know.
Hi Suzanne, I just sent you an email about this. Thanks for letting me know about the “like” button, can you please let me know what browser you are using?
now that sounds divine,
I’ve not had it in years but loved it way back when. Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte and Kaese Sahne Torte, my two favs.
I have tried Black Forest Cake, though haven’t attempted to bake one myself. It is a scrumptious combination of flavors and textures! Yummy. And I greatly appreciated learning some of the history behind it. Gil Marks will surely be missed.
looks delicious. send me a piece!!!!
Yummy! Always on the lookout for great dairy cakes for special occasions when we’re not eating pareve (yes, we do plan meals around dairy desserts!!!). Black forest is my husband’s all-time fave. 🙂