Black Forest Cake

On the 5th Day of Christmas, there was a Black Forest Cake. If you could check my Instagram DMs, I get asked for this recipe more times a week than expected. I have been requested and begged for it and although it was planned for to be posted eventually, I caved sooner than I had expected. Probably because the Christmas Spirit was in me!

I kid you not when I say the Pradip cocoa powder bring this Black Forest to life so quickly, considering how little cocoa powder is actually required to make it. All you need is 1/3 cup of cocoa for a kilo of cake and this makes the cake quite rich. You can, however, use 1/2 cup Pradip cocoa powder and 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, (instead of 2/3 flour) to make it even richer.

Ingredients – makes an 8″ cake or 1kg cake

For the cake

7 eggs

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup flour

1/3 cup Pradip cocoa

1 teaspoon Pradip baking powder

For moistening

Simple Syrup

For filling, deco and garnishing

Dark chocolate for garnishing

2 cups whipping cream

Strawberries or cherries

Method

Preheat oven to 180C
Grease and line baking sheet with greaseproof paper
Sift the flour cocoa and baking powder together and set aside.
Separate the egg whites from the yolks. Place the egg whites in a large bowl and the yolks in a smaller bowl.
Whisk the egg whites until fluffy and stiff peaks form. Use a metal spoon to test if ready by scooping the whites and turning the spoon upside down. If the eggs don’t fall, it’s ready.
Add the yolks and whisk thoroughly
Add the sugar and whisk thoroughly
Add the flour mixture a little at a time using the folding in method to ensure a lot of air is in the cake batter.
Pour into the prepared baking pan and bake for 40 minutes or until knife test is clean
Once ready set it aside to cool for 1hr before decorating

To Decorate

When cake is cool whisk the whipping cream until stiff peaks.
Cut the cake into two or three layers and moisten each layer with the juice until the cakes are well moistened.
Pour some whipped cream onto one layer and smoothen it. Then place some chopped strawberries on top.
Then place the other layer and decorate with remaining whipped cream. Use the dark chocolate to garnish and place some of the strawberries to finish up the look