Black Forest Cake
compressed chocolate cherry cake
vanilla yogurt emulsion
valrhona chocolate and green sichuan pepper sorbet
candy-crusted cherry
I know, retro, isn’t it? With all the kitschy 80′s food we’ve been putting on the table d’hôte this last week, I thought that maybe just this one gem from my childhood could do with a little snazzing up. Admittedly, with Heston Blumenthal’s… seven page black forest gateau recipe just around the corner, the bar is high. I do at very least promise a better chocolate sorbet.
The idea actually stems from leftovers. We recently held a tasting at the restaurant and the next day I had cake scraps, cherries, and a chocolate sorbet I couldn’t churn because our ice cream machine wasn’t cold enough (whoops). Then there were a few techniques I’d been wanting to try out, flavor pairings I didn’t get a chance to work with, and a few odds and ends lying around the home kitchen that brought this together. The cake is actually based on Sachertorte – perfect thanks to its light, but dry texture – and has been baked in thin layers on half sheetpans instead of the traditional 8″ rounds. Paper-thin slices of cherry are sandwiched between the layers of cake that are held together by vacuum sealing them with kirsch.
Compressed Chocolate Cherry Cake
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 6 egg yolks
- 170 g dark chocolate
- 140 g cake flour
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 8 egg whites
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 1/2 cup sugar
- Kirsch liqueur
- Cherries
Melt the chocolate. Cream the butter and first measurement of sugar for at least five minutes, and then add in the egg yolks, one at a time. Continue beating until light and fluffy. Beat in the cooled melted chocolate.
Sift the cake flour and cocoa powder and set aside.
Beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar until it forms soft peaks. Continue beating at high speed while adding the sugar until the whites hold stiff peaks.
Fold the whites and the flour mixture 1/3 at a time into the yolk mixture. Bake on two parchment-lined half sheetpans at 350 °F for 10-15 minutes. Let cool in the sheetpan, then cut into 42 2″ x 3″ rectangles.
Layer three rectangles of cake with a spoonful of kirsch liqueur and finely sliced pieces of cherry between each piece. Wrap in parchment paper and vacuum seal for 20 minutes. Remove from the bag and square off the sides.
Chocolate Sichuan Pepper Sorbet
- 500 g water
- 130 g sugar
- 80 g cocoa
- 40 g milk powder
- Green Sichuan pepper
- Salt
- 30g sugar
- 3 g sorbet stabilizer
- 160 g chocolate
Combine the first six ingredients in a medium saucepan and cook to 40 °C. Combine the second measurement of sugar with the stabilizer and whisk in slowly. Continue cooking until the base reaches 80 °C. Remove from heat, and pour in the chocolate. Let the mixture steep for 2 minutes, then blend with an immersion blender. Chill overnight. Strain through a chinois or superbag, then churn. Harden in the freezer for at least an hour.
Vanilla Yogurt Emulsion
- 1 vanilla bean
- 100 g plain yogurt
Split and scrape the vanila bean and add the seeds to the yogurt. Blend with an immersion blender.
Candy-crusted Cherry
- Isomalt
- Cherries
Melt the isomalt using the dry method. Allow the molten isomalt to cool slightly, then place a small cookie cutter into it. Once the isomalt clings to the cookie cutter, drop the cherry into it to form a wrapper. Different temperatures will produce different results. Reheat over the stovetop as necessary.