The finished product. Sorry for the grease spots on the lens. We were in a hurry to get to the party!

Black Forest Cake / Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte

Elements here, bottom to top:

One of the most exhilarating things about being a baker is working with chocolate. I haven’t even begun to explore all the myriad ways of playing with it, shaping it, cutting it, melting it, coating with it, etc. and I look forward to doing just that on [...]]]> A repost from my old baking blog.

One of the most exhilarating things about being a baker is working with chocolate. I haven’t even begun to explore all the myriad ways of playing with it, shaping it, cutting it, melting it, coating with it, etc. and I look forward to doing just that on this blog.

Let’s start with something simple today — making chocolate curls. For years I tried to make chocolate curls using the Betty Crocker instructions I read about as a little girl: take a piece of chocolate and use a peeler to peel off curls. Except, that never worked for me. I ended up with 1/4-1/2-inch wide curls, and though that was cute I really was expecting something more. I tried the bigger bars, hoping the size would help, but I was still just moderately successful.

Then on one of my cake-baking periods (around 1998) I stumbled across a method in a cake-decorating book published in Australia (sorry, that was so long ago and I didn’t take notes, so I can’t tell you the name). The solution was so simple that I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of it before. But of course, I wasn’t any less grateful. At any rate, making really wide chocolate curls is so easy and painless that I’ve been making my curls this way ever since.

Simply melt some chocolate — I like using dark bittersweet but you can try other chocolates too. There are also formulas for making “curling chocolate” but I won’t bother with that for now. You then pour the melted chocolate onto a clean, flat surface, like a cutting board, or marble. Let that cool, or chill in the fridge if you like (some purists will frown at that, but it works for me just fine). When it’s firmed up, it’s ready for some curling action. (If you put it in the fridge, take it out about 10 minutes before you’re ready to begin.)

Take the flat edge of a knife, or even a bench press, or a spatula — whatever works for you, and start scraping the surface of the chocolate towards you. Experiment with different angles, pressure, direction, etc. and you’ll come up with different kinds of curls, ruffles, waves, etc. You can also try making chocolate curls at different temperatures, e.g., right out of the refrigerator, 5 minutes later, 10 minutes later, etc. You’ll see that you get different results, and each has its own peculiarities that will in itself give you ideas for ways to garnish and make your baked goods extra-special. Enjoy!

1 14.5 oz. can tart cherries (not cherry pie filling)
water if necessary
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch

Drain cherries, reserving liquid. Set cherries aside. Measure liquid — you need 1/2 cup; add water if necessary. Add sugar and cornstarch to liquid [...]]]> A repost from my old baking blog.

1 14.5 oz. can tart cherries (not cherry pie filling)
water if necessary
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch

Drain cherries, reserving liquid. Set cherries aside. Measure liquid — you need 1/2 cup; add water if necessary. Add sugar and cornstarch to liquid and whisk until dissolved. Transfer to a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, or until thickened. Remove from heat and fold in cherries. Refrigerate until needed, up to 24 hours.

This cherry filling can be used for cakes or pies. I prefer this method to buying ready-made pie filling because I’m trying to avoid food coloring and other artificial ingredients. If canned cherries are unavailable you can use dried cherries instead. Rehydrate them, then make this filling. The texture will be a different, but the flavor will be excellent nonetheless.

You can also use canned sweet bing cherries instead of the tart Montmorency or Morello, but certain preparations call for the sour cherry, e.g., traditional Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte or Black Forest Cake, coming soon.

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
4 ounces sweet chocolate
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 to 3 tablespoons rum, brandy or other spirits
2 teaspoons vanilla extract, optional
Confectioners sugar to taste

Chop or break off chocolates into small chunks. In a microwave-safe bowl [...]]]> A repost from my old baking blog.

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
4 ounces sweet chocolate
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 to 3 tablespoons rum, brandy or other spirits
2 teaspoons vanilla extract, optional
Confectioners sugar to taste

Chop or break off chocolates into small chunks. In a microwave-safe bowl or large measuring cup, combine with the whipping cream. Microwave in 15-30 second increments, stirring well after each, until you have a smooth brown mixture. Stir in spirits and/or vanilla. If you need to use it right away, stir briskly in bowl set over ice, until it reaches the consistency you want. Otherwise, keep in refrigerator, covered, up to a week, until needed. Sprinkle or sieve in confectioners sugar and stir well.

Use this as a filling for cakes or for frosting.

To use for making truffles, simply add more chocolate, or use less cream. Chill and form into balls, then coat with cocoa powder, nuts, sprinkles, etc. or coat with a chocolate glaze and decorate with royal icing, etc.

I have several go-to recipes when I need a chocolate cake from scratch. This is my favorite — it’s so easy!

Cooking spray for pans
Cake flour or cocoa powder for dusting
4 ounces (120 g) unsweetened chocolate

1/2 pound (230 g) unsalted butter
2 [...]]]> A repost from my old baking blog.

I have several go-to recipes when I need a chocolate cake from scratch. This is my favorite — it’s so easy!

Cooking spray for pans
Cake flour or cocoa powder for dusting
4 ounces (120 g) unsweetened chocolate

1/2 pound (230 g) unsalted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups (280 g) cake flour
2 cups (400 g) sugar (you can use a little less, about 1 1/2 cups, if you want a less sweet cake)
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk (I usually use whole, but have tried 2% and 1% and the cake still came out good)
4 eggs

Equipment: Parchment rounds, 8- or 9-inch round cake pans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray pans with cooking spray and flour (or use cocoa powder, which I like for chocolate cakes) cake pans. Melt chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl or measuring cup, in 15-30 second intervals, until smooth. (Alternatively, do this in a double boiler or in a heavy-bottomed pan over low heat — watch carefully to make sure chocolate doesn’t burn.) In a bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Add chocolate mixture, milk and eggs and beat until smooth. Pour, distributing evenly, into prepared pans, and bake for 25-30 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean and cake starts to pull from the sides of the pan. Cool in pans on racks for 5 minutes before turning out onto racks. The cakes are ready to be frosted at this point, or cool completely and wrap in plastic wrap then foil if freezing for future use. The cakes can also be wrapped and refrigerated for a few days before using.

For all your wonderful cake creations:

…. on my wish list this coming baking year.

Right now I have this one

which doubles as a turntable, but if I want to tilt the cake [...]]]> A repost from my old baking blog.

For all your wonderful cake creations:

…. on my wish list this coming baking year.

Right now I have this one

which doubles as a turntable, but if I want to tilt the cake for some fancier work I can’t. (One way I’ve gotten around that is to lift the cake using the board and tilt it with my left hand while working with my right. Obviously not the best solution, and I can only do it with cakes that aren’t tall enough to slide off.) It *has* served me well for many years.

Other options are these two from Sugarcraft: one from PME and the other from JEM.

If you’re not in the US, here are some other sources for cake turntables:

In the UK: A Piece of Cake
In Australia: Cake Deco

Get 2/3-3/4 cup starter from the fridge — let stand in a covered bowl until it’s room temp (anywhere from 1 hr to whenever I remember that I have a bowl waiting for me)
Add 4 handfuls flour (I figure this is probably about 2 cups) + water to wet everything, [...]]]> My method:

Get 2/3-3/4 cup starter from the fridge — let stand in a covered bowl until it’s room temp (anywhere from 1 hr to whenever I remember that I have a bowl waiting for me)
Add 4 handfuls flour (I figure this is probably about 2 cups) + water to wet everything, stirring with a wooden spoon.
Leave covered with plastic again until I remember it — anywhere from 3-4 hours to overnight
Add 4 more handfuls flour, ~2 teaspoons salt, more water to wet everything, stir again with a wooden spoon
Leave covered with plastic again until doubled.
Cut in half. No fancy shaping, just wet my hands with water and gather up the outside to seal seams — freeform is easiest for me — it may become a batard or a baguette or boule… Put on parchment, spray, plastic.
Let rise until almost double. Heat oven to 500 degrees. Go 10-15 minutes past when the oven beeps to make sure the temps are stabilized.
Slide dough, parchment and all, onto heated quarry tiles. Spray all over the oven with water, careful not to spray the light bulb. I do this a couple of times more every 5 minutes or so depending on mood, or not at all.
Leave it in the oven until I smell baked bread — 35 minutes or so?
Here’s where I get scientific — stick a thermometer on bottom of bread, if it’s 190 or so, it’s done.
The hardest part is convincing the kids that we have to WAIT for bread to cool completely, on a rack, before we slice and eat. Sigh.

When the starter looks like it’s down to 1 cup or so, add about 2 cups more flour, water to wet it, leave on the counter until visibly ALIVE and double, then I put it back in the fridge. If it looks like it will pop out of the glass and shatter, I stir it down again the next day. By then it has calmed down a bit and will stay pretty much where it is volume-wise until I use it again.

oh, and i use whole wheat flour except for the feeding of the starter, which I often do half-half. I’ve used regular whole wheat flour, fresh-ground whole wheat, white whole wheat, etc. One of these days I’ll try sprouted grain.