The Black Forest cake has an image problem in New Zealand, and it is not really the cake's fault. Most people's reference point is a 1980s dinner party: dark sponge, tinned cherries, cream that has been out too long, and a haze of kirsch over the whole thing.
The original — Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte — is considerably better than that. We have taken it somewhere different again.
What we changed, and why
Our Black Forest Cake keeps the rich, moist chocolate sponge and the cherries. What it replaces is the filling: instead of plain whipped cream, we use a white chocolate whipped cream, which is silkier and holds its structure far better through an afternoon on a table.
The cream is studded with maraschino cherries and the whole cake is finished in delicate chocolate shavings. The effect is lighter than the traditional version but reads as more luxurious, not less.
The alcohol-free part
Traditional Black Forest is defined by kirsch — cherry brandy, brushed through the sponge. Ours is made without it. That is a deliberate choice rather than an omission: it means the cake works at a christening, a children's birthday, a work function, or any table where somebody would otherwise have to ask.
It also means the cherry flavour reads clean rather than boozy, which suits the white chocolate better than kirsch would.
Four ways to have it
The layer cake is the centrepiece version — 15cm cuts 12 to 15 slices, 20cm cuts 20 to 25, 25cm cuts 30 to 35. If that is more than the occasion needs, there is a Black Forest mini cake as an individual portion, and a single slice in the cabinet for when you just want to try it.
There is also a fourth, quite different one: our Black Forest Chocolate Cherry bundt, which comes as a 20cm loaf for 8 or a 25cm bundt for 16 — simpler, less formal, and the better choice for a morning tea than a celebration. Everything sits together in our Black Forest collection.
If cherries are the draw
Cherry against chocolate is a specific pleasure. If it is the fruit-and-chocolate contrast you are after rather than the Black Forest itself, the Jaffa Orange Chocolate bundt does the same job with citrus, and the Passion mini sets passionfruit against dark chocolate.
Where it sits among our chocolate cakes
Black Forest is the lightest of our chocolate range. Thunder is the densest, Nutella the most extravagant, and the Black & White Chocolate Mousse the one built without flour. There is a full rundown in our guide to chocolate desserts in Christchurch.
How to order
Layer cakes are made to order — two days' notice is the standard. Order online and choose a collection date from our patisserie inside The Welder, browse the celebration cake range, or just come in for a slice — we are open 10am to 6pm Tuesday to Friday and 10am to 3pm on Saturday.
