The Great Canadian Baking Show
Everyone loves a Black Forest cake. It can't possibly be improved upon, right? Wrong.
CBC Life
·
Everyone loves a Black Forest cake. It can't possibly be improved upon, right? Wrong.
► Watch Chocolate Week (Season 2, Episode 6)
This mirror glazed take on a classic cake helped Sachin win Star Baker during The Great Canadian Baking Show'sChocolate Week.
Ingredients
Cherry Gelée:
- 1 ½ packages gelatin
- ⅓ cup cold water
- ¾ cup cherry purée
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp kirsch liqueur
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Chocolate Cake:
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup flour
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- ½ cup whole milk
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ½ cup boiling water
Vanilla Mousse:
- 1 package gelatin
- ¼ cup water
- 1 cup 35% cream
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
Cherry Mousse:
- 2 packages gelatin
- ⅓ cup water
- 2 cups 35% cream
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ tsp almond extract
- 1 ¼ cups cherry purée, at room temperature
- 3 tbsp kirsch liqueur
Decorations:
- 1 cup dark chocolate callets, for curls
- 1 cup white chocolate callets, for spheres
Mirror glaze:
- 1 package gelatin
- ¼ cup cold water
- ⅓ cup plus 1 ½ tbsp water
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- Generous ½ cup glucose, (200 g)
- ½ cup sweetened condensed milk
- 1 ¼ cups white chocolate callets
- Red gel food colouring
Preparation
Heat oven to 350 F. Spray three 7-inch cake pans with cooking spray and line bottom of two with parchment. Line sides of 3-inch high 8-inch springform pan with 5-inch wide acetate. Set aside.
For the cherry gelée:
Sprinkle gelatin over water in a small bowl. Let stand 5 minutes.
In a small saucepan, heat cherry purée over medium heat with sugar until sugar is dissolved, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in liqueur, lemon juice and gelatin until gelatin is melted. Pour into prepared unlined pan and chill until set, about 45 minutes.
For the chocolate cake:
Whisk together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
In a large mixing bowl, beat together eggs, milk, oil and vanilla with a hand mixer. Add flour mixture and beat on medium speed for 30 seconds. Scrape down sides and continue mixing on medium speed for two minutes. Add boiling water and mix to combine.
Divide batter between lined pans and bake until a cake tester comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan and cooling completely on a cooling rack.
For the vanilla bean mousse:
Sprinkle gelatin over water in a small bowl. Let stand 5 minutes. Microwave until just melted, about 30 seconds.
In a large bowl, whip cream with sugar and vanilla bean paste with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form. Drizzle gelatin into cream mixture with mixer on medium.
To assemble cake:
Place one cake round into a clean 7-inch cake pan with a removable bottom, lined with parchment paper. Pour half vanilla mousse onto cake round and top with gelée. Repeat layers with cake and mousse and place into freezer for 20 min. Once set, run knife around edge and remove from pan. Place in centre of prepared springform pan. Freeze for 20 minutes more.
For the cherry mousse:
Sprinkle gelatin over water in a small bowl. Let stand 5 minutes.Microwave until just melted, about 30 seconds.
In a large bowl, whip cream with sugar and almond extract with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form.
Mix gelatin into cherry purée. Fold purée and liqueur into whipped cream.
Pour mixture evenly over cake and smooth top completely. Place in freezer for 1 hour.
Chocolate decorations:
For white chocolate, place ¾ of chocolate in a bowl set over lightly simmering water. Melt chocolate to temperature listed for tempering your brand of chocolate.
Remove from heat and stir in reserve chocolate. Stir continually until you have reached lower temperature for chocolate (listed on package) and return to heat to bring chocolate back up to final temperature. Pour into molds and allow to set. Remove carefully from molds when ready to decorate.
For dark chocolate, place ¾ of chocolate in a bowl set over lightly simmering water. Melt chocolate to temperature listed for your brand of chocolate.
Remove from heat and stir in reserve chocolate. Stir continually until you have reached lower temperature for chocolate(listed on package) and return to heat to bring chocolate back up to final temperature. Pour onto marble pastry board or back of a rimmed baking sheet. Allow to set until almost dry, but still slightly soft. Use a pallet knife or bench scraper to scrape chocolate into curls. Allow to dry completely.
For the mirror glaze:
Sprinkle gelatin over ¼ cup cold water in a small bowl. Let stand 5 minutes.
In a medium saucepan, bring water, sugar and glucose to a boil over medium heat. Simmer until sugar is fully dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in gelatin until dissolved. Stir in condensed milk. Pour entire warm mixture over chocolate in a small bowl. Allow to sit for 5 minutes.
Using an immersion blender immersed entirely in mixture (if the immersion blender is not fully submerged into mixture, bubbles will occur and mixture will not be shiny), blend mixture until perfectly smooth.
Gently stir mixture with a spatula until temperature reaches 90 F.Remove half of glaze to a medium bowl and gently stir in food colouring to get a vibrant red. Pour back into remaining glaze and stir lightly until mixture is only slightly combined.
When ready to glaze, carefully remove cake from pan and remove acetate. Place on cooling rack set over rimmed baking sheet.
Pour glaze over cake and swipe a large offset spatula across the top, just barely above the cake level to push excess glaze over edges. Place in fridge to chill and set about 15 minutes. Move to cake pedestal before serving. Top with chocolate decorations.
Preparation Time:90 Minutes
Servings: Makes 10-12 servings
Related Stories
- Video How to temper chocolate
