Quasi Black Forest Cake

The Black Forest is a cake that both pastry chefs and home cooks love to reinvent. As a bûche, a cupcake, a sundae... Each version blends the tart freshness of cherries with the deep aromas of chocolate, a combination that never fails to evoke the German classic, the Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte.

In this delicious recipe, filo pastry replaces the traditional kirsch-soaked sponge cake for extra lightness.

Filo pastry tuile

• 50g butter
• 5g cocoa powder
• 3 sheets of filo pastry
  
  

Light vanilla cream

• 125g milk (about 130ml- 125g cream (about 130ml)
• 62.5g egg yolk (from about 3 eggs)
• 30g caster sugar
• 15g custard powder
• 60g semi-salted butter
• 3g gelatine
• 150g whipping cream (about 150ml)
• 2 vanilla beans
  

Cherry compote

• 200g cherries
• 10g lemon juice
• 10g sugar
• 2g pectin
  
  

Chocolate sauce

• 300g milk (about 300ml)
  
• 145g dark chocolate
  
• 26g cocoa powder
  
  

Filo pastry tuile
Melt the butter and cocoa together. Separate the filo sheets, place them on a baking tray lined with baking paper, and brush each filo with the butter-cocoa mixture. Top the buttered filo with another sheet of baking paper, weigh it down with a second tray, and bake at 160°C (325°F) for about 8 minutes.

Light vanilla cream
Combine the milk and cream, scrape the vanilla bean seeds into the mixture, and bring to a boil. In a separate bowl, combine the egg yolks, sugar and custard powder, and slowly pour the mixture into the hot cream while whisking constantly. Heat until the custard reaches 82°C (180°F). Meanwhile, soak the gelatine in cold water until hydrated, then add to the custard. Mix well. Place cling film directly on top of the custard and let it cool. Whip the cream and gently fold it into the cooled custard.

Cherry compote
Cook the cherries in a saucepan. Halfway through, add the sugar and pectin, then the lemon juice. Stir occasionally.

Chocolate sauce
Bring the milk to a boil, then add the dark chocolate and cocoa powder. Mix well.

Assembly
Layer as for a Black Forest cake: pastry, half of the cream, half of the compote. Repeat. The last layer is pastry. Drizzle chocolate sauce over the entire dessert.