Black Forest Gateau - Chilli, Chocolate & Cherries
An indulgent but delicious cake featuring chocolate and cherries with a light chilli kick to it. Despite the cream filling and topping, it is a light, flavoursome, not too sweet and delightfully squidgy bake. It makes an excellent dessert as well as a party showpiece. It has the added bonus of being gluten free.
Separate the eggs placing the yolks in a large bowl and the whites in a smaller one.
6 large eggs
Whisk the yolks and sugar for a good few minutes until the mixture has tripled in size, is thick and pale in colour.
150 g golden caster sugar
Sieve in the cocoa powder and fold gently into the mixture until just incorporated.
50 g cocoa powder
Fold in 75g of the chocolate.
With a clean whisk, beat the egg whites until stiff. Fold a ⅓ of them into the chocolate mixture to loosen it, then carefully fold in the remaining whites.
Divide the batter between two 8" (20cm) round silicone cake moulds or lined tins and bake in a preheated oven at 180℃ (350℉, Gas 4) for about 20 minutes when the cakes should be well risen and firm to the touch.
Allow to cool a little, then turn out onto a rack to cool completely. They will sink slightly.
Whip the cream and kirsch or chilli vodka until soft peaks form, then divide into two.
300 ml double cream (heavy cream), 3 tbsp kirsch
Fold the cherries and 40g of the chocolate into one lot of cream. Spread this over one of the cakes.
200 g fresh cherries
Place the other cake on top and spread over the remaining cream. Scatter the remaining chocolate over the top and decorate with more cherries if liked.
Notes
Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They're approximate and will depend on exact ingredients used.