White Forest Cake
White forest cake is a riff on the classic European layer cake. Layers of vanilla sponge cake are filled with sour cherries, white chocolate cream and plenty of Kirschwasser.
servings
Ingredients
Cherry Filling
- 24 oz fresh or frozen pitted sour cherries and their juice (see note)
- 4 oz Kirschwasser (½ cup)
- 1 ¼ oz corn starch (¼ cup)
- 8 oz granulated sugar (1 cup)
Assembly
- 1 recipe Vanilla Genoise (baked in two 8" pans)
- 4 oz granulated sugar (½ cup)
- 2 tablespoons kirschwasser
- 16 oz heavy cream (2 cups)
- 1 oz confectioner's sugar (¼ cup)
- 4 oz white chocolate (melted)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- White chocolate shavings for garnish
Instructions
Prep the cherries
- Combine 24 oz fresh or frozen pitted sour cherries and their juice with 4 oz Kirschwasser, set aside for at least 3-4 hours (I like to soak the cherries overnight).
- Drain 1 cup of juice from the cherries, reserving it for later.
- In a small bowl, whisk together 1 ¼ oz corn starch with another ¼ cup of the juice. Combine the cherries and any remaining juice with 8 oz granulated sugar in a saucepan.
- Cook over medium heat until the sugar melts and the liquid begins to boil. Reduce the heat to low and stir the cornstarch slurry into the cherries. Cook until the mixture comes to a boil, thickens and goes from opaque to translucent.
- Transfer the cherries to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and cool to room temperature. Chill until you're ready to assemble the cake. This can be done up to one day before assembling the cake.
Assembly
- Combine the reserved cup of cherry juice with 4 oz granulated sugar in a small saucepan and heat until the sugar is melted. Remove from the heat and stir in 2 tablespoons kirschwasser. Remove 12 nice looking cherries from the cherry filling and set them aside for garnishing the top of the cake. Split each cake horizontally into 2 layers so you have a total of 4 layers.
- Whip 16 oz heavy cream with 1 oz confectioner's sugar to soft peak. Whisk a cup of the cream into the melted 4 oz white chocolate to temper. Whisk the tempered chocolate back into the cream. Add 2 teaspoons vanilla extract and whip to full peak. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip with ½ of the white chocolate cream and leave the rest of the cream in the bowl.
- Set one layer of the cake onto a cardboard cake round or a serving plate. Brush the layer with ¼ of the cherry syrup. Pipe a dam of white chocolate cream around the edge of the layer.
- Spread ⅓ of the cherry filling within the border. Spread ¼ of the white chocolate cream from the bowl over the cherries.
- Add the second and third layers of the cake in the same way. Top with the final layer and brush the remaining syrup on top. Spread the remaining cream from the bowl evenly over the top of the cake and use the rest of the cream in the bag to pipe 12 rosettes evenly spaced around the top of the cake.
- Wrap the sides of the cake in plastic wrap so it doesn’t dry out and refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours.
- To serve, place one of the reserved cherries on each rosette and then scatter white chocolate shavings over the center of the cake.
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Equipment
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Notes
If using fresh cherries, stem and pit the cherries and save the juice.
If using jarred or canned cherries use the cherries and the juice. Depending on the type of cherries you use, you may need to adjust the amount of sugar in the syrup to taste.
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