Proper Black Forest gateau
Serves: 10
Prep time: 25 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Maja Smend.
Proper Black Forest gateau
This delicious Black Forest gateau recipe from Eric Lanlard is the perfect dessert for a special occasion
Serves: 10
Prep time: 25 minsTotal time: 
See more recipes
Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
804Kcal
Fat
52gr
Saturates
31gr
Carbs
18gr
Sugars
64gr
Fibre
2gr
Protein
9gr
Salt
0.3gr
Eric Lanlard
Master pâtissier Eric Lanlard runs cookery school and café Cake Boy. Eric trained as an apprentice chocolatier, and his latest book, Chocolat, has over 100 recipes that chocoholics will love.
See more of Eric Lanlard’s recipes
Eric Lanlard
Master pâtissier Eric Lanlard runs cookery school and café Cake Boy. Eric trained as an apprentice chocolatier, and his latest book, Chocolat, has over 100 recipes that chocoholics will love.
See more of Eric Lanlard’s recipes
Ingredients
- 6 medium eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 250g golden caster sugar
- 50g cocoa powder
- 100g plain flour
- 150g unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus extra for greasing
- 150g dark chocolate
- 3 tbsp raspberry preserve
- 40 pitted black cherries, fresh or tinned
For the syrup
- 175g golden caster sugar
- 2 tbsp kirsch
For the kirsch cream
- 750ml whipping cream
- 75g golden caster sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp kirsch
Step by step
Get ahead
Bake the cakes a day ahead and store in an airtight tin
- First, make the sponges. Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4. Grease 3 x 22cm-diameter sandwich cake tins and line the bases with baking paper.
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, vanilla and sugar together using an electric hand whisk until thick and the whisk leaves a trail – it will take about 10 minutes. Sift the cocoa powder and flour together, then fold in. Stir in the melted butter.
- Divide the cake mixture between the tins and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until springy to the touch. Cool in the tins for 5 minutes, then turn out on to a rack to cool completely.
- Shave the block of chocolate using a potato peeler or by scraping the blade of a kitchen knife across the surface. Chill the shavings.
- To make the syrup, put 200ml water and the sugar in a pan; bring to the boil for 5 minutes. Leave to cool; stir in the kirsch. To make the kirsch cream, whip the cream and sugar to firm peaks, then fold in the vanilla and kirsch.
- To assemble the cake, level the tops of the sponges using a sharp knife, if necessary. Place a little kirsch cream on a serving plate and secure one of the sponges on top. Brush the sponge with some of the syrup; spread over the raspberry preserve.
- Sandwich together with a second sponge and brush again with the syrup. Spread over a layer of the kirsch cream, about 1cm (½in) deep. Cover with the cherries, reserving 8.
- Spread a little more cream over the cherries, then top with the final sponge, upside down, to give an even, flat top. Brush with syrup (you may have a little syrup left).
- Spoon a quarter of the remaining cream into a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle; set aside. Using a palette knife, cover the top and sides of the cake with the rest of the cream.
- Stick the chocolate shavings over the sides of the cake with your palm. Pipe around the edge of the cake and 8 swirls in the middle; place the reserved cherries on the swirls.
