Growing up, when asked the highly-anticipated question, 'what cake would you like for your birthday?', I always requested a black forest cake. My mom would make the best boxed chocolate cake she could find and pair it with chocolate Jello pudding, cool whip and cherry pie filling. It's one of my favorite things she made growing up! While the following recipe may be considered a bit more sophisticated, it doesn't diminish how special that cake was to me. As far as I am concerned, any time chocolate and cherries get together, it's a 怎么更改手机外网ip good thing.
This version of a black forest cake infuses many of the baking ingredients I love most--rich cocoa, crème fraîche, amarena cherries and buttermilk. It's one heckuva quadfecta, I tell ya, and one I promise you will not regret using. If you're unfamiliar with amarena cherries, they are small, wild black cherries from Italy and are typically packaged in a pretty jar soaked in syrup (you can read a brief, but sweet story about how they came to be here). Amarena cherries are delicious on yogurt, on ice cream, in fancy drinks, and of course with chocolate cake. I confess, I've been intermittently playing with this recipe for over a year now; pretty much making up excuses to make it as often as possible (work party? girls night in? Valentine's Day? a friend's birthday? Just because?!). Needless to say, it's become my most requested recipe this year.
A few tips regarding saving money on some of the spendier ingredients: you'll find the best bang for your buck if you pick up your crème fraîche and amarena cherries at Trader Joes (the later is going to be available oh so soon). The crème fraîche (Bellwether Farms) is a few dollars cheaper at TJ's than at other markets and the cost savings on the cherries is even more significant. A small jar of amarena cherries can run between $13-20 online or at upscale grocery stores. However, at Trader Joes, they are just $3/jar...and also made in Italy. That being said, they only carry them during the holiday season, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to stock up if you anticipate enjoying this cake recipe as much as I do!
Click "read more" below for the recipe.