Spread the buttercream over the surface of one of the cakes (you may not need it all. So when you you think it is done, convince yourself to whisk some more. I have made the mistake many times of thinking the buttercream was ready only for it to be dense and grainy on tasting. Leave to cool for 10-15 minutes in their tins on a cooling rack then remove from the tins and leave on the rack to cool completely.įor the butter icing, just whisk everything together (start slowly unless you want your kitchen to resemble a sand storm in the Sahara) until light and fluffy. Just use the old ‘skewer comes out clean’ test to be sure. This is how long my cakes took in my oven but as your oven is probably different to mine you will need to use your own judgement. This hardly takes any time at all.ĭivide the batter into two lined square 20cm baking tins and smooth the tops flat.īake in a preheated 160C (fan) oven for about 25 minutes, checking at 20 minutes. Put all the cake ingredients into a food processor and whizz until everything is combined and you have a smooth mixture. White and milk chocolate Toblerone bars.INGREDIENTS ( serves as many or as few as you want) It may not be authentic, but if you want an eye catching chocolate cake that’s a wee bit different with a slight nod towards the Black Forest, give it a try. Dot some fresh cherries around and leave everything to settle down for an hour or two. I sandwich the two cakes together with some chocolate butter icing, drizzle the top with melted 70% dark chocolate, a good sprinkling of dried sour cherries and a combination of white and milk Toblerone, cut into slices. Just put all the ingredients in a food processor, whizz until everything is well mixed, separate the cake mixture into two lined 20cm square cake tins and bake. The chocolate sponge I have used is a Nigella all-in-one recipe that she uses for her Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake although I have added melted butter. The ‘creaming’ method you would normally use with softened butter for a sponge is great if you want some air in your mixture and a good rise, but for this traybake which has a heavier topping than normal and needs to hold its structure a bit more, using the melted butter means not as much air is incorporated in the mixture therefore giving a light but not too fluffy texture. Some of the recipes used vegetable oil as the fat in the sponge but I’ve not used any of those as neither myself or Mrs GCC like the taste of cakes made with oil.īut because I didn't want the sponge base to rise too much I used melted butter as the fat in my traybake. Quicker and easier to make and no Kirsch involved (although if I was eating it all myself I would add some). So I found a few recipes for a Black Forest traybake which seemed to fit the bill. And also something a little less involved. So I need to find a recipe that has that Black Forest feel but without the Kirsch. Other versions use a fatless chocolate sponge, or a flourless chocolate sponge, double cream, cherry jam, cherry brandy etc.īut none of these are for the Grumpy kitchen for one good reason - Mrs GCC does not like alcohol in her puddings, or anything come to that. This sounds fantastic and a labour of love and some time I will do this on a day when there is no sport on the telly.

I could go down the traditional and authentic route and make a Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte which has several layers of chocolate sponge (the bottom layer is sometimes sweet shortcrust pastry), lots of whipped cream, morello and maraschino cherries, grated dark chocolate and of course Kirschwasser (Kirsch). But it’s the Black Forest Gateau that has always intrigued me as something I want to make in the Grumpy kitchen.īroken down, I know it’s basically chocolate sponge, cream and cherries with some booze added.īut obviously it isn't quite as simple as that. Stroganoff, Chicken Kiev and even Arctic Roll have all been given a modern makeover and are great fun to make at home. Retro food has made a come back over the last few years, and very welcome it is too. It was always special as a youngster (I was a youngster then in case you were wondering) when on a birthday my mum and dad would take my brother and I to a pub and we would have Prawn Cocktail, Scampi (or Chicken) and Chips, in a basket naturally, and finish with a slice of Chocolate Gateau. For those of us of a certain vintage where the 70’s meant denim flares, disco and lava lamps, one of the top culinary experiences of the time was a huge slice of Black Forest Gateau.

Chocolate forest cake