Black Forest gâteau or Black Forest cake is a chocolate sponge cake with a rich cherry filling based on the German dessertSchwarzwälder Kirschtorte, literally "Black Forest Cherry-torte". Typically, Black Forest gateau consists of several layers of chocolate sponge cake sandwiched with whipped cream and cherries. It is decorated with additional whipped cream, maraschino cherries, and chocolate shavings. In some Europeantraditions, sour cherries are used both between the layers and for decorating the top. Traditionally, kirschwasser, a clear spirit made from sour cherries, is added to the cake. Other spirits are sometimes used, such as rum, which is common in Austrian recipes. German law mandates that kirschwasser must be present in the cake for it to be labelled a Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte.
History
The dessert is not directly named after the Black Forest mountain range in southwesternGermany. According to one school of thought, the name is derived from the speciality liquor of that region, known as Schwarzwälder Kirsch and distilled from tart cherries. This is the ingredient, with its distinctive cherry pit flavour and alcoholic content, that gives the dessert its flavour. Cherries, cream, and Kirschwasser were first combined in the form of a dessert in which cooked cherries were served with cream and Kirschwasser, while a cake combining cherries, cookies / biscuits and cream probably originated in Germany. Some sources claim that the name of the cake is inspired by the traditional costume of the women of the Black Forest region, with a characteristic hat with big, red pom-poms on top, called Bollenhut. The confectioner claimed to have invented Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte in its present form in 1915 at the prominent Café Agner in Bad Godesberg, now a suburb of Bonn about north of the Black Forest. This claim, however, has never been substantiated. Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte was first mentioned in writing in 1934. At the time it was particularly associated with Berlin but was also available from high-class confectioners in other German, Austrian, and Swiss cities. In 1949 it took 13th place in a list of best-known German cakes.
Records
The record for the world's largest authentic Black Forest gâteau was set at Europa Park, Germany on 16 July 2006, by K&U Bakery. Measuring nearly and weighing, the cake, which was in diameter, used up of cream, 5,600 eggs, of cherries, of chocolate shavings, and of kirsch. On 9 December 2012, a team led by chefs Jörg Mink and Julien Bompard made Asia's biggest Black Forest cake at the S-One Expo in Singapore. The cake was made from of cream, 1,500 eggs,, of chocolate shavings, and of kirsch.
Schwarzwaldtårta
A Swedish cake called Schwarzwaldtårta is related to the traditional Black Forest gâteau only by name. It consists of layers of meringue containing fine grind roasted hazelnuts covered by a thin layer of chocolate with whipped cream in between. The whole cake is also covered with whipped cream and decorated with thin dark chocolate and cocoa powder.
