This is such a simple, easy dish really, but make it anywhere and everyone thinks you are a brilliant cook. It was something I threw together recently for a potluck during the group Reiki healing session. It was a hit and I had everyone asking me for the recipe.

I actually made this cake because I was feeling lazy. I just bought a cake mix, whipped cream, cherry pie filling and a bar of chocolate. The rest was cake walk.

Did you know that the name of the cake comes from a forest in Germany called ‘Black Forest’? The traditional name for the cake is schwarzwälder kirschtorte, which translates to ‘Black forest cherry liquor cake’. The main ingredient in this cake is the cherry liquor that comes from the black forest region.

So I guess our black forest cakes aren’t very black forest after all, but we make do. Sab chalta hai in India, after all!

Makes a 10″ cake

Ingredients:

1 sponge cake
50gm (1 packet) whipped cream powder
1 can cherry pie filling
100gm bar dark chocolate, grated
50ml cherry liquor, if available
½ cup sugar, maybe more
Water

Method:

Make whipped cream as per instructions. Typically, that would involve blending the powder with 100ml chilled water. Refrigerate atleast for half an hour, overnight if you can.

Check the cherry filling. If it is too sour, you might want to add some powdered sugar to sweeten it a bit.

Dissolve ½ cup sugar in a cup of water. If you don’t have cherry liquor, take ½ cup filling without the cherries, and add it to the syrup. Check the taste and add more sugar if required.

Once the sponge cake is cool, cut it in half horizontally. (If you want more layers in your cake and your sponge is thick enough, you could even cut it into 3 parts. Increase the quantities of whipped cream and chocolate accordingly) Using a thread to cut the cake is very effective and even.

Place the first layer of the cake on the plate you want to serve the cake on.

Drizzle half the sugar syrup and the liquor over the sponge.

Smear a centimeter thick layer of whipped cream, and spread a thin layer of cherry filling.

Place the other sponge on top, and top with whipped cream and cherry filling. Cover the edges of the cake with whipped cream and pat grated chocolate on the sides. Voila, you’re done!

Refrigerate and serve chilled.