Black Forest Gateau

This super easy black forest gateau recipe takes no time at all to whip up. It uses store-cupboard ingredients and with the new Breville HeatSoft™ hand mixer, you don’t have to wait for the butter to soften before baking the cakes. In collaboration with Breville.

Black Forest Gateau – without fresh cherries…

… because at the end of September, in Shetland, there’s not a single fresh cherry to be found. Anywhere.

That didn’t stop me from having a serious craving for Black Forest Gateau recently though, with its layers of rich chocolate cake drizzled with cherry brandy. These fluffy booze-infused cake layers are sandwiched together with sweetened whipped cream and black cherry conserve (or cherry pie filling, if you prefer).

Don’t forget those curls of extra dark chocolate on the top either, oh no. This is an all-out indulgent cake recipe, but it’s super easy to make and uses simple store cupboard ingredients. No having to wait for cherries to be in their oh-so-short season again, nor for your butter to soften to room temperature either!

While making this cake I put the new Breville HeatSoft™ hand mixer to the test…

Introducing… the brand new Breville HeatSoft™ Hand Mixer!

Did you know that many recipes, such as chocolate cake, need ingredients to be at room temperature before mixing? Butter takes hours to reach room temperature when it’s been left on the countertop, and let’s face it, who has the time to wait for that? If I want to make a cake, I want that cake sooner rather than later. I confess, I very rarely ever leave my butter to get to room temperature, and this means I’m not getting the best baking result possible.

Cold butter can result in heavy, dense baked cakes, and when making cookies, if you melt it or try and soften the butter in a microwave first your cookies could end up oily, soggy and flat. Not ideal!

With Breville’s new HeatSoft™ Technology, waiting for butter to come to room temperature is a thing of the past!

The HeatSoft™ button switches on a gentle heat, allowing cold butter, straight from the fridge, to be softened while mixing.  No more waiting! With seven different speeds to choose from, plus an extra boost button if needed, makes mixing your favourite cakes effortless, with no planning involved.

There’s also a boost button for when you might need a little extra help for thicker mixtures, and the ergonomically designed handle and controls mean this mixer is super easy to use. The one-touch eject button makes for an easy clean up too, while the unit comes with its own handy storage case. No more searching the bottom of drawers for the hand mixer attachments! Win!

Tips for using your Breville HeatSoft™ Hand Mixer

• Cut your cold butter into 2.5 cm cubes and place them in the mixing bowl along with the sugar.
• To avoid splatters, start the unit on the lowest speed setting  and slowly increase to the desired speed setting
• The unit comes with dough hooks, a whisk and interchangeable beaters (meaning no more faffing about trying to figure out which beater goes in which hole!).
• Store the hand mixer plus the accessories and the power cord conveniently together in the storage case.
• Do not touch or hold your hands beneath the heat nozzle while the HeatSoft™ feature is switched on.
• Whenever you need to scrape the sides of your mixing bowl, switch the mixer off and scrape the sides and bottom with a rubber spatula, as required.
• Make sure you position the beaters above your mixing bowl when adding ingredients – this will ensure any excess mixture falls back into the bowl and not onto your countertop!

Ingredients you’ll need for the rich chocolate layer cakes

• 100 grams caster sugar
• 100 grams dark muscovado sugar
• 100 grams unsalted butter – straight from the fridge!
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 160 grams plain flour
• 40 grams cocoa powder
• 75 ml soured milk (see recipe notes)
• 120 ml strong coffee

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Equipment needed

• Breville HeatSoft™ Hand Mixer
• Mixing Bowl
• rubber spatula
• 3 x 15 cm cake tins
• measuring cup
• measuring spoons
• cooling rack
• small heatproof bowl
• small saucepan
• stone slab
• piping bag
• wooden skewer

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Step-by-step instructions to make the chocolate layer cakes

1. Cream together butter and sugars using the Breville HeatSoft™ hand mixer, pressing the HeatSoft™ button once. Mix at speed setting 1 for 45 seconds, or until there are no more large chunks of butter, then turn to speed 5-7 for another 15-45 seconds, until the mixture is light and fluffy. 
2. Add the egg and vanilla, and mix well with the HeatSoft™ button switched off.
3. Sift over the flour, bicarbonate of soda and salt.
4. Add the coffee and soured milk. Mix well.
5. Spoon into 3 x 15cm greased and lined cake tins.
6. Bake in a preheated 190°C/170°C fan oven for 25-30 minutes, until the cakes begin to come away from the sides of the tins and they are springy to touch. Cool completely on a wire rack before assembling/decorating.

What you need to assemble this black forest gateau

• 3 x 15cm chocolate sponge cakes
• 3 tbsp cherry brandy (or the traditional German kirschwasser, a clear spirit made with sour cherries)
• 150 grams dark chocolate (you won’t need to use all this chocolate for the cake, but you need this much to make the curls)
• 450ml double cream
• 25 grams icing sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 125 grams black cherry conserve (or cherry pie filling)
• black cherries in syrup (or fresh cherries, or jarred cherries soaked in kirsch) 

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How to assemble this easy black forest cake

1. Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl suspended over a pan of barely simmering water. Pour the chocolate out in a thin layer on a chilled stone slab (or piece of baking paper) and pop into the fridge to harden.
2. Whip the double cream with the icing sugar and vanilla.
3. Using a wooden skewer, poke holes in each cake. Drizzle over 1 tbsp of cherry brandy into each cake (or more, if desired).
4. Pipe a circle of whipped cream around the outside edge of the cake, filling the centre with black cherry conserve or cherry pie filling. Decorate with more cherries, if desired.
5. Repeat with the second cake layer, and finish the third layer of cake off with a layer of whipped cream, piping swirls around the edge.
6. Decorate with dark chocolate curls, made by scraping a knife over the top of the hardened chocolate, and more cherries.

How can I make this Black Forest Cake alcohol free?

If you prefer an alcohol-free Black Forest Gateau, simply replace the cherry brandy with some cherry syrup from a tin of cherries in syrup or use unsweetened cherry juice.

Can I make this cake in advance?

Yes, you can make the cakes themselves up to three days in advance (I actually think they taste better the next day), but once the cake is assembled with the whipped cream it’s best eaten on the day.

Coffee in a chocolate cake?

Absolutely! Coffee adds a wonderful rich depth of flavour to chocolate cakes, without making the cake taste like coffee. Trust me, you’ll love it!

The Breville HeatSoft™ hand mixer – our thoughts!

I’m not going to lie, I was a little bit sceptical at first about this hand mixer.  I had visions of hair dryer meets hand blender, but no, this hand mixer is a gamechanger!

I am really impressed at how well, and how gently, the mixer heats the ingredients in the mixing bowl. This mixer removes the step of having to remember to take the butter out of the fridge a few hours in advance before you want to bake (honestly, does anyone actually do that?). The resulting light, fluffy cakes that I’ve made here for my Black Forest Gateau have convinced me that this mixer is going to revolutionise my baking.

Tips for making homemade chocolate curls to decorate a cake

• melt your chocolate slowly in a bowl suspended over a pan of barely simmering water, stirring occasionally
• pour your melted chocolate onto a cold stone slab – marble works well
• pop into the fridge to harden
• drag a sharp, cold knife lengthwise along the top of the hardened chocolate, exerting just enough pressure to lift a layer of chocolate from the top. The chocolate will naturally curl as you drag the knife.
• don’t touch the chocolate curls with your fingers as your body heat will melt them, transfer the curls to the top of the cake with the knife

Where can I buy the Breville HeatSoft™ hand mixer?

The Breville HeatSoft™ hand mixer is a recently launched addition to the Breville range. It retails for £69.99 and can be purchased here.

Follow Breville on Instagram at @brevilleuk

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This is a sponsored recipe post in collaboration with Breville, although all thoughts and opinions expressed are our own. Thank you for supporting the brands who make it possible for me to do what I love: mess up my kitchen and share recipe stories.