Book of Days Tales

Today is the birthday of German writer Hermann Hesse who was born in Calw in the Black Forest in 1877.  His best known work is probably Steppenwolf which was a cult favorite when I was an undergraduate.  Cannot let the day pass without making black forest cake.  Be sure to use the finest cocoa powder.

Ingredients

Pastry:

60g plain flour

5g cocoa powder

25g caster sugar

40g butter, softened

2 tsp kirsch

Sponge:

6 large eggs

140g soft light brown sugar

60g cocoa powder

Filling:

700g morello cherries in syrup

3 tbsp kirsch

500ml double cream

50g icing sugar

½ tsp vanilla extract

300g morello cherry jam

Plus: 25g dark chocolate, to decorate

Instructions

For the pastry layer:

Sift the flour and cocoa powder into a mixing bowl and add a pinch of salt. Whisk together, then mix in the remaining ingredients to make a dough. Wrap in cling-film and chill for 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4 and grease the base of a 20cm loose-bottomed cake tin.

Roll out the pastry to 5mm thick and use it to line the base of the tin. Prick all over with a fork, then bake for 15 minutes, until crisp.

Remove from the tin and set aside on a wire rack to cool.

Grease and line the tin.

For the sponge:​

Separate the eggs and whisk the yolks with the sugar in a large bowl until they begin to thicken. Sieve over the cocoa powder and a pinch of salt and fold in.

Whisk the whites in a separate clean bowl, until stiff but not dry.

Fold a little of these into the yolk mixture to loosen it, then fold in the rest very gently, so you knock as little air out as possible.

Carefully spoon into the tin, smooth the top and bake for 35-40 minutes, until puffed up and set on top. Leave to cool in the tin.

Drain the cherries, retaining the syrup. Mix 100ml of it with the kirsch.

Cut the cooled cake into three horizontal slices and put on separate plates. Spoon half the syrup over the slices and leave to sink in. You can add more if it is all absorbed, but don’t overload it.

Whip the cream until thick, then sift in the icing sugar and add the vanilla extract. Whisk until voluminous, but not too stiff to spread.

Put it all together:

When you are ready to assemble the cake, set aside 12 cherries, then put the pastry layer on a cake stand or board. Spread with a quarter of the jam, a fifth of the cream and a quarter of the remaining cherries. Put a sponge layer on top and repeat the jam, cherry and cream layer. Repeat again with the other two layers, and press down gently.

Use a palette knife to spread the remaining cream on top in big, puffy waves. Grate chocolate curls generously over them, and arrange the remaining cherries around the edge. Chill for an hour before serving.