Black Forest Gâteau

Ingredients for the Cake
4- Eggs
240gm- Flour
200gm- Light muscovado Sugar (or brown sugar or plain sugar)
100gm- Light vegetable spread (I used flora pro cholesterol) (you can use butter if you like, however I can safely say that my cake was fine as it was polished off in 20mins by just 6 hungry hangoors)
1oogm-Coco Powder
1-teaspoon baking powder
¼-teaspoon salt

1pound- in weight fresh cherries deseeded and   sliced
2 tablespoon Kirsch (optional)
5tablepsoon any sweet fruit juice

600ml-Fresh double cream
200gm- good quality dark chocolate, broken into pieces
50gm- dark chocolate for shaving
 

1.    Pre heat the oven to 170c
2.    Lightly butter loose bottom (spring form cake tin) and dust it with little flour. Line the tin with baking paper
3.    Shift flour, baking powder and salt together and keep aside
4.    Place the vegetable spread (or the butter or oil), sugar in a bowl and beat with a electric mixture until light and fluffy.  Beat in the egg one at a time
5.    Fold in the flour, baking powder and salt mixture in the egg, butter and sugar mixture.
6.    Fold carefully not to disturb the air bubble in the cake mixture
7.    Shift the mixture in the prepared cake tin
8.    Bake for 40-50 mins until firm and springy.  Insert a screwier in the middle of the cake. It comes out clean, that meant sake is done. The timing might vary depending on oven used  
9.    Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for five minutes before turning out onto a wire rack
10. Once cold, cut the cake horizontally into three separate rounds  and spread them o three different places
11. Sprinkle the fruit juice over all the round cakes.  The cake should be moist. Use more fruit juice if needed
12. Pour the cream in to bowl, add bit of powdered white sugar (optional but very little sweetness in cream tastes wonderful)  and whip either by hand using a balloon whisk or hand mixture.  Whisk them until they forma soft peak (Lift the mixer and if the little peaks gently curves that is soft peaks)
13. Place the last layer of the cake on a cake base or wherever you want to have the cake. Spread one of the cake discs with cream then cover with half of the sliced cherries, pressing them in lightly.
14. Top the first layer of cake with second layer of the cake and repeat the process.
15. Place the third layer of the cake on top of second layer. However, do not spread any sliced cherry on top of the third layer. The top of the third layer should remain plain. Press the whole cake to glue them together
16. Keep it in refrigerator to cool it for while. Put the cream in fridge as well in the fridge
17. Mean while prepare to make chocolate curls and caraque for decoration
18. For chocolate shaves: use a potato peeler and pare off the thick curls of chocolate from bar. The curls can be made thicker by using a chunky bad of chocolate and by angling the peeler to get thicker curls.
19. For chocolate caraque: melt the chocolate and spread it in a thin layer on a cold clean and plain surface like a plastic chopping board.
20. Leave it to cool until the chocolate is set but not brittle
21. Push a clean scrapper or a thick knife across the surface of the chocolate holding it about 30 degree so that chocolate starts to roll in loose curls. Transfers the caraque to a baking sheet and chill in the fridge before you use it
22. Bring the cake out. Spread the rest of the cream on the whole of the cake
23. Spread the  chocolate saves on the side of the cake
24. Make cream flowers on top and place whole fresh cherry on the top
25. Finish of the decoration by arranging the chocolate caraque
26. Serve cold