Black Forest cake suitable for fondant

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 140 g chocolate
• 30 ml oil, tasteless
• 180 g powdered sugar
• 6 eggs
• 100 g flour, smooth
• 40 g cornstarch
• 10 g cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 100 ml cream
• 200 g dark chocolate coating
• 1 jar sour cherries, approx. 350 g drained weight
• 45 g cornstarch
• 50 g sugar
• 1 pinch of cinnamon
• 100 ml cherry brandy or cherry juice, cherry liqueur
• 400 ml cream
• 3 pts vanilla sugar
• 1 sachet of agartine
• 450 g fondant or 1/3 of it modeling chocolate

Instructions

Working time approx. 3 hours 30 minutes; Rest period approx. 1 day; Cooking/baking time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 1 day 4 hours

delicious and sure-to-succeed motif cake, for a 26 cm springform pan

It’s best to prepare the cake base the day before to make it easier to slice. Melt the chocolate over a hot, but not boiling, water bath before stirring in the oil. Then set the mixture aside and let it cool slightly. Sift the flour with the cornstarch, cocoa powder, and baking powder. Separate the eggs and beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, stirring in about a third of the icing sugar as soon as the egg whites start to stiff peaks. Beat the egg yolks with the remaining icing sugar for about 10-15 minutes until frothy. Then carefully fold in the beaten egg whites, alternately with the dry flour mixture. Pour the batter into a 26 cm springform pan and bake in a preheated oven at 175 °C (fan assisted mode) for about 30-35 minutes on the middle rack. It’s best to prepare the ganache the day before as well. Briefly boil the cream in a saucepan, remove from the heat, and add the chopped dark chocolate. After about 1 minute, stir the mixture until smooth and let stand overnight at room temperature. For the cherry filling, drain the cherries in a sieve and collect the juice. Mix about a quarter of the cherry juice with the cornstarch, sugar and cinnamon and bring the rest to a boil in a saucepan. When the juice boils, stir in the starch mixture and let it simmer for about 1 minute, stirring vigorously. Then remove from the heat and stir in the cherries. For the cream filling, whip the cream with the vanilla sugar until stiff peaks form. Boil the sachet of agartine in about 80 ml of water for 2 minutes until bubbling and let cool briefly. Stir 2 tablespoons of cream into the lukewarm agartine before stirring this mixture into the cream. Cut the cake base in half horizontally, e.g. with a string. Soak the first layer with kirsch and then enclose it in a cake ring or springform pan. Spread half of the cherry filling on the first layer. (I prefer to spread the filling all the way around the outside first, then leave space for the cream and spread some more of the cherry filling in a ring further inside.) Then spread half of the cream on top. Place the second layer on top and soak it again. Cover with the remaining cherry and cream filling as before. Place the last layer on top, which is also soaked with kirsch. Now chill the cake for at least 3-4 hours. Cover the cooled cake with the ganache. It’s easiest to do this in two steps, first just roughly spreading it over the cake to bind the crumbs. After about 30 minutes of chilling, cover the cake nicely with the rest of the ganache. The cake should be refrigerated for at least another 30 minutes. I like to replace one-third of the fondant with modeling chocolate, but this is optional. Knead the fondant or mixture until soft and roll it out using baker’s starch (potato starch). Now cover the cake with it and smooth all surfaces and sides. It’s best to store the cake uncovered in the refrigerator to prevent the fondant from coming into contact with moisture.