Gisela's Black Forest Gâteau

Prepare a 26cm/10inch pan, cover the bottom with parchment paper. Don’t grease the sides, as  this prevents this delicate dough from rising. Preheat oven to 350°F / 180°C.

Mix together the egg whites with a pinch of salt and 1/3 of the sugar until very stiff. Then beat the egg yolks and the remaining sugar well for about 5-6 minutes, until the batter reaches a very fluffy and creamy texture.

Mix all dry ingredients and sift them into the egg yolk batter, fold it gently into the batter, alternating with the egg whites. Do this in batches so you don’t overload the batter at once. Make sure you just fold until no more flour pockets are left so you won’t deflate the batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for approx. 30 min. (check inner consistency with a wooden toothpick that should come out clean before removing from the oven). Remove from the pan and let it cool well.

Mix the corn starch with a few teaspoons of cherry juice/liquid to dissolve. Heat the cherries with the remaining juice/liquid (use water if cherries come without liquid) in a skillet until almost cooking. Remove the skillet from the stove and pour in the dissolved starch. Make sure to keep stirring immediately to avoid lumps. Keep stirring until the initially milky mass becomes clear again. Let cool well.

Stir the whole cream with stabilizer and sugar until very firm. Cool. (Tip: mix this in two portions – one for the inner filling and one for the outer decoration of the gâteau and cool well so it won’t get too warm while assembling the cake).

Cut the sponge cake horizontally into 3 more or less equal slices. Use the top one for the bottom layer. Best practice is to put it already onto the final cake dish so you don’t need to move the cake later. (Tip: stick some parchment paper underneath the bottom slice to prevent the plate from smudge on the dish while decorating the cake).

Sprinkle 3 Tbsp. of Kirschwasser onto the slice of dough. Add ½ of the well-cooled and thickened cherry mass and spread over the cake. Add ¼ of the whipped cream and also spread over the cherries. Add the next slice of cake (use the middle part), repeat the above procedure. Then add the final slice (the former bottom part of the sponge cake) to form the top layer. Sprinkle with the last 3 Tbsp. of Kirschwasser.

Spread the 2^nd batch of the whipped cream to the sides, seal well. Set aside approx. ¼ of this portion in a pastry bag with star-formed tip for the final cream roses on top of the cake, keep cool until needed. Spread remaining whipped cream on top layer of the cake and carefully seal it, too.

Apply the chocolate flakes to the side of the cake, covering the whipped cream. Sprinkle 16 cream roses on the top and center each one of them with a cherry from the ones set aside earlier. Sprinkle remaining chocolate flakes in the center of the final gâteau.