Bake the perfect Black Forest Gateau with this easy to follow recipe by the hard-working Mamas of the Clover Mama Afrika project who have collaborated to create a brand new recipe book titled, Sweet Safari: A Clover Mama Afrika Taste Adventure, that features over 20 recipes from the Mama Afrikas’ kitchens.
This recipe is prepared by Mama Alinah Marumo from the Free State.
Ingredients and method as provided by Mama Alinah Marumo (serves 8):
Chocolate cake
3 eggs
250ml castor sugar
50ml water
50ml Clover fresh full cream milk
50ml Clover Springbok unsalted butter
50ml cocoa powder
375ml cake flour
10ml baking powder
2ml salt
5ml vanilla essence
Filling and topping
10ml Kirsch liqueur
425g tin black cherries without stones, in syrup
750ml Clover fresh cream, whipped
200g dark chocolate, grated
Method
1. Preheat your oven to 180°C.
2. Whisk eggs and sugar together until light and fluffy when preparing the cake.
3. Bring water, milk and butter to the boil. Mix in cocoa powder.
4. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together. Add to egg and sugar mixture gradually, beating continuously.
5. Add boiling mixture and essence.
6. Pour into greased and lined 20cm round cake tins and bake for 25-30 minutes.
7. Leave in tins for a few minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool. Cut each layer horizontally into two.
8. To assemble, mix liqueur with 125ml cherry syrup.
9. Place one layer of cake onto a serving platter. Sprinkle with some of the cherry syrup.
10. Cover with a thin layer of cream.
11. Halve three quarters of the cherries. Place a third of the halved cherries on the layer of cream.
12. Place a second layer of cake over this and repeat until the final cake layer has been used. Press layers down gently.
13. Cover sides and top of cake with cream and sprinkle chocolate around the sides.
14. Place drained whole cherries on top of cake.
Tip from the pro:
To coat the sides of the cake, place decoration such as chopped nuts, chocolate vermicelli or grated chocolate on a sheet of greaseproof paper. Holding the cake at the top and bottom, roll in the decoration until the sides are evenly coated.
