Square Black Forest Gateau

This Black Forest gateau is sure to be the perfect addition to whatever celebration you have planned in the coming months.

If you have been following me for a while, you may be aware this isn’t my first ever Black Forest gateau. I’ve actually made this cake every year on my blog with a twist making it different every year and well, this year is no different. I thought I’d add this version, it’s a simple square cake, which won’t fail to impress at your next celebration.

If you haven’t had a Black Forest gateau before, you’re missing out. It starts with a layers of chocolate sponge, filled with freshly whipped cream and cherry jam, then finished with more of the cream, grated dark chocolate and cherries. The combination of the chocolate cake and cherry jam is amazing but chuck in the cream and it’s a dream – don’t believe me? Give it a try for yourself.

This cake was a slightly special cake as it was made for my moms birthday and she asks for this cake every year but to keep it interesting I’ve finally got around to making a square cake – something I haven’t really done before (is it me or are round cakes more popular?)

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

 

Ingredients:

Cake:

470g Butter.

470g Granulated sugar.

6 Eggs.

410g Plain flour.

65g Cocoa powder

18g Baking powder.

Milk (optional, only use if needed).

 

Cream:

750ml Double cream.

125g Icing sugar.

1 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract.

 

Simple Syrup:

150ml Water.

150g Granulated sugar.

5ml Vanilla extract.

 

Coating & Finishing:

300-450g Dark chocolate, grated.

Maraschino cherries.

Cherry jam.

 

Methods:

Before you get into making this cake, you’ll want to do some prep work. I personally like to start by weighing up all of the ingredients, lining the 8 inch square tin with some parchment paper, preheating the oven to 180˚c/350˚f and preparing any equipment such as a stand mixer with a paddle attachment and a spatula.

To start on the cake, you’ll want to grab your mixing bowl and place in the butter and granulated sugar. Beat the two together until they are lighter and fluffier in colour and consistency – this should take around 7-9 minutes but may take more time, depending on how you’re mixing them together.

You can then go ahead and give the bowl a good scraping down, this is just to incorporate any bits that may not have been fully worked in from earlier on.

Now you can go ahead and add in the eggs, roughly one at a time, beating well in between each addition. You may notice as the egg is added, that the mixture starts to curdle slightly and this is normal (you will be able to fix it at the next stage).

Don’t forget to give the bowl another scraping down, again just to incorporate any bits that haven’t been fully incorporated.

You can now go ahead and add in the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder, passing them through a sieve first (this is to remove any lumps that may be in the mix).

Start the mixture on a medium-low speed, working your way up to a medium-high speed, just until the flour has been incorporated. You may need to add some milk to help with the consistency (I find a tablespoon at a time works really well).

Give the bowl a good scraping down, just to incorporate any bits that may not have been fully incorporated earlier on.

You can then transfer the cake batter into your lined square 8 inch cake tin, spread and level it out and then place into the preheated oven and bake for 45-55  minutes or until a tester comes out clean when inserted into the centre.

While the cake is baking, its the perfect time to get cleaned up and prepare for the next stages. At this stage I recommend you also make the simple syrup.

To make the simple syrup, it’s honestly super easy. Simply place the water, sugar and vanilla extract into the saucepan and mix together. Then place over a high heat and bring it to a boil, then you can allow it to simmer for a minute or so, just until, the mixture is thicker than water. Allow to cool fully, then its ready to use – if you’re making this in advance, store in an airtight jar and refrigerate until needed.

I leave everything I have done for the cake so far and leave it until tomorrow but if you only have one day to do everything, don’t worry, just ignore me on leaving everything overnight.

I start by levelling the cake, so you have two layers and then generously brush over the simple syrup. Leave the cake layers on a cooling rack while you make the whipped cream.

For the whipped cream, grab a clean mixing bowl and pour in all of the double cream and then add the icing sugar and vanilla extract. Whisk over a medium-high speed until the cream changes in consistency – it should be thick enough to hold its shape but still spreadable. If you have over-whipped the double cream, simply start over – the grainy mouthfeel will ruin it.

Now you have all of the elements ready, you can finish the cake. Take the cake stand/plate/cake board you intend on using and use a small blob of the freshly whipped cream, then place a layer of cake on top, pressing down to secure in place. Then on top of the layer of cake, you can spread a good amount of the whipped cream, spreading out to the edge of the cake, then spread as much or as little cherry jam as you’d like then sandwich the second layer of cake on top. Pressing down slightly, just to secure in place.

Then you can go ahead and give the cake a good coating with the remaining cream, reserving a piping bags worth. Spread and level the cream all over the cake, ensuring a level amount all over the cake.

Take the cake and coat the sides and top with the grated chocolate, making sure you get a good coverage all over the cake. You may need to go over some patches a few times to ensure a good coverage.

Place into the fridge and allow everything to firm up.

After the cake has been in the fridge for a short while, you can then remove it from the fridge and finish the cake off. Place the cake on to a turntable and pipe rosettes all around the outer edge of the cake – you will then want to add the maraschino cherries, how many you add is up to you – I went with what looked right but you can add more or less – you’re the judge here!

Place the cake back into the fridge and allow to firm up, I recommend eating this cake with 24/36 hours.

Cut up and slice this cake however you like, unfortunately I don’t have any pictures of the inside as this was my moms birthday cake and we weren’t celebrating together, you know, with coronavirus and the other commitments I had going on in my life at that time.

That’s all for today guys, I hope you enjoyed. If you did, don’t forget to share this recipe with your family and friends and enjoy it. I’ll be back soon with another blog post and YouTube video, so join me then. In the meanwhile, don’t forget to check out my other social’s – Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. The YouTube tutorial will be linked down below.