Black forest cake

First of all. My apologies for the pictures. It was pouring water out when I made this cake and light was not exactly what you'd call abundant.

Now let's talk cake.

Spaniard (that'd be me): Aaron I'm gonna let you choose which cake I'm making for your birthday
Aaron: Oh! Cherry chip cake is my favorite! or at least it was like... 10 years ago.
Spaniard: Ok, well, I'll make you cherry chip cake then!

I type cherry chip cake on google. First thing I see. A VERY pink cake. See Aaron might be weird, but he's not a pink kind of guy. Well, keep searching.  First recipe I read says 'perfect cake for a princess!'. OK. Aaron's definitely not a princess. He probably liked this cake when he was 6, but he was turning... well, 30+. I decided I was gonna find a cherry cake for a grown up.

So... what about a black forest cake? Chocolate (yum), cherries (meh) , whipped cream (yay), some liquor (extra yay)... That's what I'm talking about. The traditional cake is made with cherries that have been soaked in Kirsch, a cherry liqueur. I searched the entire city for cherries in Kirsch, or plain Kirsch. No luck. So I went with Marraschino cherries and some almond liqueur. 

I halved the recipe, mostly because it was just 3 of us eating a cake meant to serve 10 people.


For the cake

2 1/8 cups all purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoons baking soda
3 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 F

In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make sure the mixture is uniform and you don't have cocoa powder lumps. 
In another bowl mix eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla; beat until well blended. Add the dry ingredients slowly while mixing. Pour the batter into greased pans and bake for 35 min or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the cake cool completely and then slice in half. 

For the filling

2 cans marraschino cherries
2 pints cream for whipping
4 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup amaretto (almond) liqueur (or cherry if you find it)

To whip the cream, I'd recommend placing the bowl and wisk in the freezer for a while before starting. Then start whipping the cream, until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and the liqueur and keep beating until hard peaks form. Cut the cherries in half and mix them with about 3 cups of whipped cream. (Reserve the rest of the cream for frosting). Place the filling between layers. Once the layers are complete, frost the cake (as well as you can) with the remaining whipped cream. Decorate with chocolate shavings and cherries.

Chill for a couple hours before eating. I'm telling you, even if you're not a cherry fan, you're gonna lick your fingers with this!