Black Forest Trifle

i love baking cakes. which i do, of course, to obtain something: a good result, a pretty to look at (ideally) and yummy cake. both, equally. well, for this cake, what i wanted to obtain was a black forest layer cake, with three layers of lush chocolate cake and mascarpone cream, röteli (a swiss cherry liquor in a deep red) infused cherries and röteli syrup. in my vision, it was a beautiful cake for someone special’s birthday. in other words: it was supposed to be black forest cake bliss, fit for a birthday. what i did obtain, however, was more like ‘the leaning (initially – or tumbled down and broken into 100 pieces) tower of pisa’. while i was taking the picture, the cake started to have an tilt. and i almost caught in on camera when it tumbled over eventually. the morning came and went and i had no cake. i was quite… desolate. almost like on this not so pretty occasion (almost).

[gap height=”20″]being me, i just stuck what was left of the cake into jars (the inventory: one whole cake ended up making on ly 2 jars), and, well, called it ‘a trifle’ instead. my significant other liked it anyway (he’s a keeper), so i guess all wasn’t too bad. what’s pretty obvious: will have to make this cake every birthday now until i succeed. at war with a black forest, so to say. [gap height=”20″]

black forest trifle
recipe adapted from linda lomelino (made into a trifle)

ingredients for the cake:
50 g butter, melted
180 g all purpose flour
30 g unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
225 g sugar
1 large egg
200 g sour cream
1/3 cup hot water

ingredients for the cherries in kirsch:
250 g frozen cherries
1/2 squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup röteli (cherry liquor)
3 tbsp. kirsch
1/4 cup granulated sugar

ingredients for the mascarpone frosting:
1 tub (250 g) mascarpone cheese
3-4 tbsp powdered sugar
1/3 cup + 1 1/2 tbsp heavy cream

decorations:
milk chocolate, shaved or grated
some of the cherries

directions for the cake base:
preheat oven to 175 c / 350 f. Butter and flour three 6 inch (15 cm) cake pans (or if you plan on making the trifle, right away, then simply use one 26cm large round cake pan). Melt the butter and let it cool slightly. combine dry ingredients in a large bowl, first: flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda. Add all other ingredients -salt, sugar, egg, sour cream, melted butter and hot water. Stir until completely smooth. pour batter into cake pans and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, then let the cakes cool for 10 minutes in their pans before inverting them onto a cooling rack. let cakes cool completely before using.

for the cherries in röteli, put them in a saucepan with the lemon juice, röteli, kirsch and sugar. let come to a boil and then let simmer for about 15 minutes, stirring carefully every now and then, until the cherries are soft but not mushy. pour the mixture through a strainer, with a bowl underneath to reserve the liquids. put the cherries in another bowl to cool. note: if you wish to make a thicker syrup (which you can pour over the cake), put the remaining liquid back in the sauce pan and let simmer for about 5 minutes or until thickened. pour into a bowl and let cool completely.

for the mascarpone frosting, beat the mascarpone and sugar until creamy. add the heavy cream and whip until thick.

trifle assembly:
for the trifle, simply break up the cake and fill the crumbs in a first layer into jars. top with cherries, drizzle with syrup and mascarpone and repeat. finisch with a mascarpone layer and top with shaved chocolate and the cherries. hehe, the cherry on the top.

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