It’s the best day of the year: it’s my birthday. I love having birthday! Getting presents, eating chocolate, having cake and it’s all about me – what’s not to like?! Seriously. Best. Day. Ever.

Yesterday I already invited my sisters and my brother over for some cake and because the winter is back and it fits perfectly the weather outside I made a black forest cake. When it comes to desserts I need a challenge. If the recipe is delicious but it looks like some classical 0815-cake, I don’t bother.

I only made this cake because I saw this fantastic decoration idea over at Desserts for Breakfast a few month ago and I had it in mind ever since. So my birthday was the perfect excuse (birthday is the perfect excuse for everything. Think about it. Best. Day. Ever.).

I made the cake a little smaller (almost half) because I always end up eating most of the cake over the next few days and boy was that not enough! It was gone in one afternoon. I had to bake a few cupcakes to bring into work at night. The recipe for those will follow soon.

black_forest_cake_black_forest

To get you in the mood: here’s a picture of my birthday table – all set and ready for my guests.

Birthday_table

Ingredients for the black forest cake:

– 4 eggs
– 100 g castor sugar
– pinch of salt
– 50 g plain
– 25 g corn starch
– 20 g cacao powder
– 25 ml oil

Mix the eggs with castor sugar and salt and beat until the mixture doesn’t rise anymore. Sieve the flour, corn starch and cacao powder and combine with the wet ingredients. Slowly mix in the oil. Bake in a 180 ° C preheated oven for 35 – 40 mins.

– 100 ml cherry juice
– 1 big tablespoon corn starch
– 200 g cherries
– 125 ml cream
– 125 g dark chocolate

Mix the cherry juice with the corn starch and cook until smooth like a pudding. Also cook the cream with the chocolate until well combined and put in the freezer for 20 mins or until cool. Beat the chocolate cream until stiff.

Cut the cake into three layers. Take a cake hoop and add the bottom layer. Put the chocolate cream in a piping bag and pipe three circles on the bottom and middle layer. Add the cherries between the circles and drizzle some cherry pudding on top of the cherries. In this picture you see how it’s supposed to look like.

black_forest_cake_layers

– 250 ml cream- 200 g chocolate

Melt the chocolate until soft. Tipp: Don’t let it get over 30 ° C! You will thank me when the chocolate is cool because it will have a nice shine to it. Put the melted chocolate in a piping bag and pipe trees on baking paper.

Beat the cream with about a table spoon of sugar. My dad always says that you have to do this. And when it comes to cakes you can trust my dad. He made one every Saturday. So we had this tradition of eating cake every Sunday for breakfast. I miss it. Best tradition ever!

Cover the whole cake with cream and add the chocolate trees to the walls. Now look what I made! A black forest cake with a black forest. Clever, huh?!

black_forest_cake_piece

Now. Carry on!