Black Forest cake

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 225 g flour
• 6 eggs, separated
• 40 g cocoa powder
• 1 packet of baking powder
• 200 g sugar
• 3 packets of vanilla sugar
• 65 g butter
• 30 g cornstarch
• 1 pinch of cinnamon
• 3 sheets of gelatin
• 1,000 g cream
• 40 g powdered sugar
• 120 ml cherry brandy
• 500 g morello cherries from the jar
• 120 ml morello cherries juice from the jar
• 60 g chocolate shavings
• some salt
• Fat for the mold

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 10 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 50 minutes; Total time approx. 2 hours 30 minutes

Recipe from my grandma

Preheat oven to 175°C and grease the base of a springform pan. For the shortcrust pastry, knead 125g flour, 1 egg yolk, 65g softened butter, 50g sugar, 10g cocoa powder, 1 pinch of salt, 1 pinch of baking powder, and 1 sachet of vanilla sugar into a dough. Then shape it into a ball with your hands. Roll out the dough thinly between cling film and line the base of the springform pan. Prick several times with a fork. Bake in the oven at 175°C for about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack. Then clean the springform pan and re-grease the base. Tip: If the shortcrust pastry is too crumbly, gradually add enough cold water, a teaspoon at a time, until it is smooth. For the sponge cake, beat 6 egg whites (including the leftover egg whites from the shortcrust pastry) until stiff peaks form. Beat the egg yolks with sugar until frothy. Add the beaten egg whites. Mix together 100g flour, 1 sachet vanilla sugar, 30g cocoa powder, 25g cornstarch, 1 pinch of cinnamon, ½ tsp baking powder, and 1 pinch of salt. Sift over the mixture and then carefully fold everything in. Pour the sponge mixture into the springform pan and bake at 175°C for about 30 minutes. Then let it cool briefly and turn out onto a wire rack. When the base is cold, cut it horizontally. Tip: You can also wrap a piece of string around the middle to cut it, loop it once, and then pull both ends tight. This makes cutting more precise and even. Then drain the cherries, catching the juice. Set aside 12 cherries for decoration. Pour about 4 tablespoons of cherry juice into a cup and heat the rest in a saucepan. Mix 4 tablespoons of cornstarch with the 4 tablespoons of juice and use this to thicken the hot juice. Bring to a boil briefly and stir in the cherries (except for the 12 set aside). Remove from the heat, season with kirsch, and let cool. To prepare the cream, soak the 3 sheets of gelatin in a pot of cold water, stir, and let stand for about 10 minutes. Then heat over low heat, stirring constantly, until completely dissolved. Whip the cream in a large bowl until almost stiff peaks form. Stir 2-3 tablespoons of the cream into the gelatin, then fold everything into the remaining whipped cream. Add 1 packet of vanilla sugar and 40g of powdered sugar and finish whipping the cream. Drizzle each sponge cake with about 2-3 tablespoons of kirsch per layer. You can also use just cherry juice, which makes it alcohol-free. Then place the shortcrust pastry on a cake plate. Spread the cherry mixture in the center, leaving some space around the edges for the cream. Now spread about 1/3 of the cream, working from the outside in, over the base and the cherry mixture. Place the first sponge cake layer on top and press down lightly. Then spread just under half of the remaining cream on top. Place the second sponge cake layer on top and also press down lightly. Set aside about 12 tablespoons of cream for the garnish and chill while you wait. Spread the rest of the cream all over the cake. Decorate the edge and center with chocolate shavings and then pipe rosettes onto the cake using the remaining cream. Tips: If the shortcrust base is too firm, simply add a little cherry brandy. But be careful not to use too much cherry brandy, or the cake will just taste of alcohol. Instead of cherry brandy, you can also use cherry juice. You can also spread the shortcrust pastry with a little cherry jam.