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I made this in a bit of a hurry because we got a request for it from my friend
Mike that was staying at the hotel. I got excited though and wanted to show you a quicker style of doing this. Otherwise I would have taken the time to soak the cherries in Kirsch, like I read they would have done in the old days in the Black Forest. I also would have taken the time to make beautiful chocolate curls for the top. The cake was a hit, and a one lady from Hamburg said it tasted just like the best in Germany. Well it was free, so she could have been nice, but I can tell generally when there is a consensus on something I make.

One of our readers that grew up near the Black Forest is Einzi Johnson. She gave a few good tips that her mother used in this recipe.

....My mom always used to put in one or two tablespoon of sour cream when she whipped the cream, it gives it a fresher taste.

..... with the Kirschwasser put some in a cup. Dip your fingers in it and moisten your layers with gently with it. If you pour it on it is overpowering and gets the cake soggy.

First a bit of history:

Skip history and go directly to recipe

What is the origin of the name? It is named for the Black Forest area in Germany. Where is the Black Forest? The Black Forest is an area in Southwest Germany that got it's name many centuries ago from how thick and wooded it use to be with fir and pine trees, also silver and other ore. It is also famous for its cuckoo clocks, dark chocolate, Morello cherries, and Kirsch, the double-distilled clear alcohol they produce from the cherries

The Black Forest area in Germany

. They are also famous for the Bollenhut that resembles the colors of the Black forest cherry cake. Nobody is sure that the ingredients were chosen to resemble the hat, but it is a nice coincidence. The black dress is the dark chocolate cake,  the white shirt with Balloon puffy sleeves are the light real whipped cream, the 8-11 red pompoms are the cherries, and the black undulating lace veil shielding the young women's eyes are represented by the chocolate curls. The hat is coincidentally similar in weight they say to the cake you buy in the Black Forest. The giant wool pompoms also signify marital status. red is for single and black is for married.

So the Jury is still out .....Who made the first Black Forest Cherry Torte?

There are 2 different claims as to who made the first Black forest Cherry torte.

Josef Keller 1915 This account is written by pastry chef Claus Schaeffer who owns Cafe Schaffer in Triberg , Germany, (in the Black Forest area of Germany) who's father apprenticed under Josef Keller

Josef Keller (1887-1981) is the inventor of the Black Forest cherry cake. Keller was the pastry chef in the Café “Ahrend” (today called Agner) in Bad Godesberg. In the year 1915 he created for the first time what he called a “Schwarzwaelder Kirsch”, or “Black Forest Cherry”. After his time in the military, Josef Keller established his own café in Radolfzell. August Schaefer learned the trade as the apprentice to Josef Keller in Radolfzell from 1924 to 1927. After many years of collaboration, Josef Keller gave August Schaefer his recipe book which contained the original recipe. His son, Claus Schaefer, the current Konditormeister of the Triberg Café Schaefer, inherited the book and the original recipe and has thus been able to carry on making Josef Keller’s original.

There is a Festival celebrating this cake in Germany in Todtnauberg, Germany in the Black Forest. This will be held on June 13, 2010. http://www.todtnauer-ferienland.de/de2/kultur/kirschtortenfestival.php

Many recipes for this cake use soaked cherries in Kirschwasser.

Probably before the debut of the Black Forest Cherry torte. Sour cherries from the
Black Forest were soaked in Kirschwasser and then served simply with whipped cream.

The most popular sour cherry from the Black Forest is the Morello Cherry or Shattenmorelle in German, which means "Shadow morello", which has nothing to do with a shadow but is believed to be a sound-a-like word derived from the French, Château de Moreilles which is where this sour cherry was first bred. Yeah ...Château does sound a bit like Shadow.

Where to find Morello Cherries

Donna Wright Says she has puchased them
at Trader Joe's also.

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Kirschwasser that we use in Black Forest Cherry Torte, is a cherry Schnapps or liqour that is thought to have originated from the Black Forest.

What is Schnapps?
German Schnaps and American Schnapps are very different.
German Schnaps (spelled with 1 p) is a clear liquor not sweet that is double distilled, much like a brandy. It does not have added fruit flavor, sugar or glycerin like American schnapps which is quite sweet.

This Kirschwasser in the picture from the Kammer distillery is made from over 20 lbs of cherries!

The Black Forest if famous for not only Kirschwasser but has over 14,000 small distilleries
of Schnapps. One of the most densely filled areas with distilleries in the world.

German style Schnapps is said to be an acquired taste by some, because it is not sweet.
It is enjoyed often as an after dinner drink, like a digestif. I have also read that young schnapps is served very cold. Also coffee or espresso enhances well with Kirschwasser.

So where did the name Schnapps come from?
The word schnapps seems to come from a low German word meaning similar to “snap”. It then became a German word for gulp or swallow.
It would seem to make sense that you would gulp the drink and get that snap of the strong liquor when you down a shot.

According to Nathalie Jordi many of the distilleries are not large industrialized farms but are small family businesses that have the distilling rights handed down from generation to generation. The Schwarzwald's topography is such that the trees are rarely organized in orchards; they grow haphazardly, sometimes even wildly, on perilously slanted slopes too steep to plow and unsprayed fields called Streuobstwiese, or, loosely translated, mixed-fruit fields. In a landscape like this, it's impossible to farm intensively.

The windfalls are gathered in the fall and put into mash and fermented in wood barrels.
Then in a few weeks the mash is distilled in still, and then distilled again. The first time is never enough to get all the water out and achieve the right amount of alcohol which is at least 32%.

Here are some other things to do
with Kirschwasser from the chef at Kammer

This is a nice chilled soup that will be a nice treat
for a summer dinner. Slightly sweetened
and pureed smooth.

I am seeing more and more chilled soups
in the states. I would have never tried them
a few years ago it just didn't appeal to me.
but potato leek, (vichyssoise) Gazpacho, and
Ceviche to name a few are showing up on all menus.

If you see cherries on sale at the store and they need to
be used consider making this soup! You can prepare it
a head of time or even freeze it.

To pit cherries easily, just put them on your cutting board slice at the
stem end and press into the cutting board and the pit will pop out.

Go here for the recipe for Black Forest Cherry Soup

Good authentic Black Forest Ham from the Schwarzwälder is not what we get here in the states which seems to be a sandwich ham that has a dark carmel coating on it.

From Wikipedia

The production of Black Forest ham can take up to three months.[1] Raw ham is salted and seasoned with garlic, coriander, pepper, juniper berries and other spices.

After curing for two weeks, the salt is removed and the ham cures for another two weeks.

Next, the ham is cold smoked at a temperature of 25°C (77°F) for several weeks, during which time the ham acquires its deep red color. The smoke is created by burning fir brush and sawdust. The smoking process gives the ham much of its flavor.

This ham is much like prociutto, and the texture is what makes it sooo good. You don't want to eat a thick slice of it. I like it thin sliced and served with a good rye or brotchen fruit and cheese.

The term "Black Forest ham" is a Protected Designation of Origin in the European Union, meaning that anything sold in the EU as "Black Forest ham" must come from the Black Forest. However, this appellation is not recognized in non-EU countries, particularly in United States and Canada, where various commercially produced hams of varying degrees of quality are sold as "Black Forest ham".

Shop for Black Forest Ham Here

I order from the German Deli more frequently than ever.
I try to get in bulk to make the shipping dollars count.
Also there are sales all the time I like to take advantage of.
They are nice folks. If you don't believe me call them.
and tell them Stephen Block sent you from the German Goodies Newsletter.

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