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Claire Clark is regarded as one of the top pastry chefs in the world. She shares one of her favourite cakes - a classic Black Forest gâteau from Germany.

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Black Forest gâteau

A Black Forest gâteau, or Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, is not a Black Forest gâteau if it does not contain the ingredient after which it was named. Schwarzwälder Kirsch, a white liqueur made from cherries, comes only from the Black Forest region of Germany.

Originally red sour cherries, also from the Black Forest area, would have been used. This recipe uses black cherries and griottines, but do experiment and find your favourite.

INGREDIENTS:

Chocolate cake

200g caster sugar

115g plain flour

60g cocoa powder

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

90ml crème fraîche

2 medium eggs

1 tablespoon milk

125ml cold coffee

50ml vegetable oil

Cherry filling

1 orange

425g can of black cherries

50g caster sugar

½ cinnamon stick

1 tablespoon cornflour

Syrup

100g caster sugar

100ml water

4 tablespoons kirsch

Whipped cream

500ml whipping cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

25g icing sugar

To decorate

250g dark chocolate (70 per cent cocoa solids), tempered or Candy Melts melted

a little icing sugar

12 griottine cherries

PREPARATION METHOD:

Heat the oven to 170°C/Gas Mark 3. Grease an 18cm square deep cake tin and line the base.

Sift all the dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Whisk the crème fraîche with the eggs, milk and cold coffee until well combined. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet mixture. Whisk just until a smooth batter is formed. Add the vegetable oil and whisk again to combine.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 25–35 minutes, until the cake springs back when gently pressed with your finger and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Leave in the tin for a few minutes, then turn out on to a wire rack to cool.

Meanwhile, make the cherry filling. Peel the zest from the orange with a vegetable peeler. Drain the juice from the cherries into a pan and add the sugar, the juice from the orange, the orange zest and the cinnamon stick. Bring to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, leave to stand for 5 minutes, then take out the cinnamon stick and orange zest. Bring back to the boil. Mix the cornflour with a little cold water in a bowl. Pour the boiled juice on to the cornflour, whisk to combine, then return to the pan. Bring back to the boil and simmer for 3–4 minutes, whisking continuously. Add the drained cherries, turn the mixture into a clean bowl and leave to cool. Make sure the cherries are completely cold before assembling the cake.

For the syrup, put the sugar and water in a pan and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the kirsch, then leave to cool.

Whisk the cream, vanilla and icing sugar to firm peaks.

To assemble the cake, cut it horizontally into 3 layers, set the base on a cake card and, using a pastry brush, soak it with the kirsch syrup. Spread the base with a 0.5cm layer of whipped cream. Put some of the whipped cream in a piping bag fitted with a 2.5cm plain nozzle and pipe a border of it around the edge of the cake. Fill the centre with half of the thickened cherries. Place another layer of sponge on top and repeat the process. Top with the final layer of sponge and press down gently to level the cake if necessary. Mask the cake completely with the remaining cream. Place in the fridge to chill and firm.

Meanwhile, make the chocolate shavings and curls. Pour the tempered chocolate or melted Candy Melts on to a marble slab and quickly spread it with a palette knife to level it out as thinly as you can. As soon as the chocolate has set, take a large chopping knife and, holding it at a 45-degree angle, push at the chocolate in an upward motion to make chocolate curls. It really does not matter if they are all sorts of shapes and sizes. If the chocolate breaks, it is because it has become too cold. Just scrape if off the marble, re-melt and try again.

Use the smaller flakes of chocolate to decorate the sides of the cake and the outer edge of the top. Pile the curls into the centre, dust with icing sugar and finish with the griottine cherries.