Black Forest Gateaux!

Last few months have been very busy for us. We moved to our new place :D, Mohan's parents had visited us, Mohan's cousins visited us, many of our friends visited and we have been busy settling into our new place.

Apart from that last few months many cakes were baked. One such cake was this Black Forest Gateaux!(My favorite when I was in India). Baked by Mohan (Gasp!) for me on my birthday (Double gasp!). It was the most awesome birthday gift- I had the cake and ate it too! Plus I got to boss around Mohan while "teaching" him how to make this cake and he had to listen just this once!

This again made an appearance when I made this for a friend of ours. He is a big fan of pac-man and I had long promised him a birthday cake and a pac-man cake . He happened to be in town for his birthday this year so I made him a pac-man birthday cake! :D

Genoise Au Chocolat/Chocolate sponge cake

3 tbsp Clarified Beurre Noisette

1/3rd cup Unsweetened cocoa, dutch- processed

1/4 cup  Water, Boiling hot

1 tsp  Vanilla Extract

5  Eggs, Large

1/2 cup Sugar

3/4th cup Sifted Cake Flour

• Preheat oven to 350 F
• line 2, 8 inch pans with parchment paper. Grease the side of pan with butter or a baking spray.

• Warm the beurre noisette until almost hot a(110 F- 120 F) and keep warm.
• In a medium sized mixing bowl, mix the cocoa powder, vanilla extract and the boiling hot water so that the cocoa has completely dissolved and there are no lumps.

• In the bowl of a standing mixer add the eggs and sugar. Set over a pan of simmering water and whisk till it reaches 110 F.

• Using the whisk attachment in you stand mixer, whisk the mixture on high speed till it triples in volume. Take around 5 minutes, longer if you use a hand beater.

• Remove 2 cups of the egg mixture and whisk into the cocoa mixture till smooth.
• Sift the flour over remaining egg mixture and fold it in gently but quickly with a rubber spatula or a slotted skimmer until the flour has disappeared
• Alternate: 
  
  • Take out 2 cups of egg mixture and whisk into the cocoa mixture till smooth, and sift half the flour into the cocoa mixture and using a rubber spatula fold in. Sift the rest of the flour into the egg mixture directly. I have had trouble with folding  when I was a novice. I improvised a bit with the current method  and that helped retain the volume. This recipe has no leavening agent so the loss of volume could result in a disk that can be used like a frisbee! only heavier . 
• Fold in the cocoa mixture until almost incorporated. Don't worry if you see some white streaks.
• Fold in the beurre noisette in 2 batches using a large whisk or a rubber spatula just until incorporated.
• Pour immediately  into the prepared pans and bake for 12-18 minutes or until the cake shrinks from the sides of the cake. Try not to open the oven door too much as it could make the cake fall .

• Once done, Loosen the sides of the cake with a metal spatula( I use plastic knife  I don't want to scratch my nonstick pans)

• Unmold at once onto a lightly greased cooling rack. Re invert to cool. trim the bottom and top crusts when ready to complete the cake.

Syrup:

1/4th cup + 1.5 tsp Sugar

1/2 cup Water

1 -2 tbsp Spiced rum

• In a small saucepan with a tight-fitting lid bring the sugar and water to a rolling boil, stirring constantly.
• Cover immediately, Remove from the heat. Allow to cool completely
• Stir in the liqueur. Set aside till needed.

Filling :

Cherries - 1/2 cup chopped up ( I used candied maraschino cherries)

Whipped Cream Frosting:

1.5 cups Heavy whipping cream, cold

1/3rd cup Granulated sugar

• Chill the mixing bowl and the whisk attachment  in the freezer for atleast 30 minutes.
• Add the whipping cream to the mixer bowl and whisk on low speed till frothy.
• Gradually add the sugar and whisk on high speed till it forms stiff peaks. 

Garnish:

Cherries - whole, chopped up and as much or as less you need. Let your imagination run wild

Chocolate shavings - pretty much like the cherries you can have them in what ever shape or size and as much or as little as you please.

Assembly:

• Place one cake on a cake board. Sprinkle half the syrup over the cake.

• Spread almost 3/4th cup of the whipped cream evenly over the bottom layer. Spread the chopped cherries over the whipped cream

• Top with second layer. Soak with the remaining syrup. Spread the remaining frosting on top and sides of the cake.

• Cover the sides of the cake with chocolate shavings ( I got lazy and just blitzed the chocolate in my food processor)
• Decorate with cherries on top.

• Now comes the toughest part. Let the cake soak in for 3-4 hours minimum. The longer it soaks  the better your cake will taste!