Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Eggless Black Forest Cake



Black Forest cake is a very delicious and popular cake. It consists of layers of chocolate cake and in between these layers, whipped cream and cherries are placed. The cake is then covered with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. Finally cherries are garnished on the top.


Black Forest cake is my most favorite cake. Its just not because of its taste but because some good memories are associated with it. During my days in Mysore , me and my friends would often go to Cafe Coffee day . A piece of black forest cake and a cappucino would be my pick almost every time.Before Mysore, I never liked chocolate .Hence I would be hesitant to order anything that was chocolate. But it was because of these friends who introduced me or if i might say forced me to try  this delicious cake and I was in love with the cake. We would spends hours in CCD just chatting. Ahh.. those tension free happy days...:)

Now coming back to the cake, I have tried baking  this cake in the oven as well as in the pressure cooker. I had a few requests to show cake baking in a pressure cooker. Also this cake of mine is eggless. Hence in this post, I will be showing both the methods. I have tried to use a lot of pictures to explain the process to the best of my ability. Do write to me , if you still have any doubts..

Baking in the oven:

INGREDIENTS:
Note: All measurements are based on the US measuring cup and spoon sizes where 1 cup = 235 ml
Source: Cooking Shooking
For making the chocolate sponge cake you will need:
  • All purpose flour / Maida : 1 cup
  • Powdered sugar : 1/4 cup
  • Pure Vanilla extract : 1 tsp
  • Unsweetened cocoa powder : 4 tbsp
  • Baking powder : 1/2 tsp
  • Baking soda : 1/4 tsp
  • Salt : 1/4 tsp
  • Sweetened condensed milk : 1/2 cup
  • Unsalted butter (at room temperature) : 1/3 cup
  • Milk (Room temperature) : 3 tbsp
  • Hot boiling water : As needed to get the proper consistency ( i used about 6 tbsp)
For the icing, filling and garnish, you will need:
  • Heavy whipping cream : 600 ml 
  • Powdered sugar : 6 tbsp (adjust according to taste) + 4 tbsp
  • Maraschino Cherries : 16 oz (453 g) jar 
  • Cherry syrup (from the cherry jar mentioned above) : 1/2 cup
  • Chocolate shavings as needed (I used a Sweet chocolate bar. You can very well use bitter chocolate bar)
PROCEDURE:

To bake the sponge cake:
  • Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C). Butter and flour or using a nonstick baking spray grease a 8 inch round cake tin.

  • Using a stand mixer or a handheld electric mixer, beat butter until it is smooth. Then add sugar and beat until the butter sugar mixture is light and fluffy. (If you don't have a stand mixer or a handheld mixer, you can use a whisk but it will sure take some effort to beat.)




  • Add in the condensed milk and beat for 4 minutes.


  • Add in the vanilla extract.
  • Sift together all the dry ingredients like flour, baking powder, baking soda , cocoa powder and salt.



  • Slowly fold in the sifted dry ingredients to the wet condensed milk-butter mixture using a flat spatula.




  • Add the milk first and then add hot water little by little mixing the batter in between until you get a batter that is of the dropping consistency.
  • Pour the batter in to the prepared cake tin and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean . Baking times vary from oven to oven, so keep an eye once the cake starts firming up. Do not over bake it. Once the cake is baked, remove from the oven . After about 10 minutes, loosen the side and transfer the cake to a plate and set it aside to cool by placing the plate over a wire rack.


  • Cake should cool completely before beginning the icing process.
To prepare the icing:
  • Chill the bowl and whisk attachment of your stand mixer in the freezer for 30-45 minutes. If using a whisk, then chill the bowl (in which you will be beating the cream) and the whisk in the freezer.
  • Once cold enough, pour the heavy cream to the chilled bowl, add in 6 tbsp powdered sugar. Beat until you get soft peaks. Place the whipped cream in the refrigerator for 20 minutes. Remove from the refrigerator and beat it again until you get  stiff peaks.
  • Now your icing is ready.Keep the icing in the refrigerator until ready for use.
For the filling and the cherry syrup:
  • Separate the cherries from the syrup . If the cherries have seeds, remove the seeds. The cherries I used were seedless. Leaving aside a few cherries for garnishing, cut all the other cherries in half.


  • Take the syrup , 4 tbsp sugar to it and heat until the sugar melts. DO NOT over heat. We just want the sugar to melt. Set it aside to cool.

For the chocolate shavings:
  • Grate the chocolate bar using a grater or a peeler. Chill the chocolate shavings for 10 minutes or until ready to use so that they canstiffen up and are easy to handle.



Assembling the cake:
  • Slice the chocolate sponge cake horizontally into 3 layers. To make the process easier, use a turntable or place a plate with the cake over a bowl. As you start slicing, move the plate in the circular fashion. This will get you perfect slices. set aside the three layers.
  • Place a dollop of cream on the turntable or the cake stand and place the bottom layer of the sponge cake. Adding a dollop of cream ensures that the cake will not move while we are decorating.
  • Drizzle 3-4 tbsp of cherry syrup on the bottom layer. Spread 1/2 inch layer of whipped cream. Arrange some cherries. 





  • Place the middle layer on top of the prepared bottom layer and repeat the process again.. syrup-->Cream-->Cherries.
  • For the last layer, turn the top layer of sponge cake upside down and place it on the prepare middle layer . Drizzle the syrup, spread a big amount of cream on the top surface as well as on the sides. Smoothen the sides .



  • Spread the chocolate shaving on the top surface as well as on the sides. Keep the cake in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.


  • Transfer the remaining whipping cream into a piping bag. Keep it in the refrigerator too for 10 minutes along with the cake.
  • Take the cake and piping bag from the refrigerator. Pipe the cream on to the cake decorating it as per your liking.Garnish with the cherries. (My cake decoration skills are not as advanced as I would like it to be:)) I did use some Hershey's kisses in the decorations.



  • Chill until ready to serve.



To prepare the cake in the pressure cooker:



Ingredients to make the sponge cake are the same as above. The only thing you need extra is 2 cups of salt.
Spread 2 cups of salt in the pressure cooker vessel. Keep a rack or a stand over the salt . (This is to prevent the cake tin from touching the surface of the pressure cooker). Close the lid and heat the pressure cooker for a good 15 minutes or until the pressure cooker is hot. This called preheating the pressure cooker.
Prepare the cake batter as mentioned above and place the cake tin over the rack/stand in the preheated pressure cooker. Cover and cook on low heat without the whistle.
Bake for about 30-40 minutes until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.This timing depends on the stove. I used an electric stove, so it took me a good 40 minutes. this timing might differ in a gas stove. So keep an eye. Do Not over bake because it will result in a dense hard cake.
The procedure to make the icing and assembling the cake would be the same as explained above.



ENJOY!!!!



17 comments:

  1. I wanna give a huge round of applause to you Shubha for this post. You have put in a lot of love and immense hard work in this post which can be seen. I bow to your labour of love my dear girl. Hats off to you for including the pressure cooker version too. This post has not only left me drooling but also spellbound. Amazing effort and awesome cake.

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    1. Ty so much dear for those words of praise.. Getting compliments from you, means so much to me:)
      Its the support of dear friends like that keeps me motivated to try something new :).. Thanks from the bottom of the heart..have a beautiful day!! Sending you lots of luv:)

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  2. Cakes never really excited me but black forest, yes please!! I simply love the layered texture as the one you have made. Yum to its deliciousness.

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    1. Ty so much dear..have a merry christmas and a happy new year:)

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  3. Super..excited to see this wonderful gorgeous cake...

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  4. I had the same thoughts as Piyali dear Shubha. you have put in a lot of love and effort throughout the procedure. we can clearly see that. lovely layered cake-very inviting:)

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    1. Thanks dear..I am so happy to hear such sweet words from u:) thanks a ton!!

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  5. Commendable effort Shubha! Keep the recipes coming..

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    1. Thanks :) You inspired me to start blogging :) So a big thanks dear:)

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  6. Shubha I can see the effort you have put in the cake. Very beautiful and delicious cake. I can finish the whole cake in one go. It looks superb. :)

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  7. Ty so much Ritu:) have a good day dear:)

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  8. Hi Shubha,
    The very first reaction after checking this image was "Stupendo Fantabulously Fantastical". Believe me, looks better what is available in shops.
    Excellent narration followed by best clicked step by step pictorial. Good job..

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    1. Thanks so much dear:) i am in the seventh heaven after reading your comment:) I had tried this recipe because I wanted to make this for my dad in India and wanted to make a cake without the oven...hence the post was born:)
      Ty so much dear.. your kind sweet words motivate me to work even harder:)

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  9. That's an awesome recipe for Eggless and Pressure cooker cake as well as Black forest! A 3 in 1... I must bookmark this :) And I love the kisses on top! thats so cute!

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