Black Forest Cake (Easy & Egg-less Version) using stabilized whipped cream icing

Black forest Cake is my favorite cake since childhood. It originated from Germany and it has layers of chocolate cake soaked in Kirschwasser (a liquor from cherries), whipped cream and cherries are used to fill in between layers and also for decorating the cake. Nowadays, this cake is also made without alcohol content. I am sure the cakes that I had in my childhood were also alcohol free but just loved how moist, soft the cakes were, with light whipped cream, the cherries and served chilled, tasted so heavenly. 

I wanted to bake this cake for long but couldn't get to it.  The cherry liquor, the sour cherries and the process of making it were little intimidating. So I took the easy route - baked a cake, used canned cherries and whipped cream. Though it is not the authentic black forest cake, it does tastes delicious and so easy to put together too. May be will bake the authentic version sometime in future, but for now I am happy with this version. The only thing I would do to improve the cake is that I used 2 thick layers of cake which I would tort each layer into 2 and then assemble such that there are 4 layers with whipped cream and cherries in between each layers.

I baked this cake for my Hubby's Birthday who is a chocolate lover. I took the pictures of the cake only in the night. Initially I didn't have any intentions of blogging about the cake, but later thought why not? This is an easy and yummy cake, so it is here. Also this is my 250th post. Perfect time to share the celebration cake. 
First, bake the cake and let it cool. Then prepare the whipped cream icing. When the cake is completely cooled, assemble the cake and place the cake in the refrigerator to chill, before being served.

Recipe for stabilized whipped cream icing.
Recipe Source: All Recipes

What are the ingredients needed?
Heavy whipping cream, 2 cups
Unflavored gelatin, 2 teaspoons
Cold water, 1/4 cup
Vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon
White Sugar, 4 tablespoons

How it is made?

1. Keep the mixing bowl and the beaters in the refrigerator at-least 15 minutes before starting the process for it to chill.
2. In a small bowl, add water and gelatin, mix and set it aside to allow it to soften for about 6 - 7 minutes, then microwave it for 30 seconds or until it is melted. Let it cool. The gelatin mixture has to be liquid but not warm when added to the cream.
3. Now, take the bowl and the beater from the refrigerator, add the whipping cream, and vanilla extract and start beating and add sugar tablespoon by tablespoon till you can see the beating mark.
4. Now add the gelatin mixture in a steady stream and continue to whip till it forms stiff peaks. Use it immediately.
5. It yields about 4 cups of icing.

Assembling the cake

What are the ingredients needed?

Chocolate cake, use this recipe (double the recipe)
Whipped cream icing, recipe from the above
Maraschino cherries in a jar, one 16 oz jar
Chocolate shavings, for decoration

How it is made?

1. Bake the cake , let it cool and tort it as required.
2. Place a layer of cake, drizzle the syrup in the jar on it, then apply a layer of whipped cream on top of it, then cut the cherries into half and arrange them on top of the cream, then place the next layer of cake and repeat the process for the remaining layers(if you have more).
3. Then cover the cake with whipped cream, use chocolate shavings to decorate the cake or decorate as desired.

Notes:

• I used the recipe of Chocolate Cake (Egg-less) and just doubled it. If you cannot  bake from scratch (for any reason), you can use box mix to bake the cake.
• I baked 8 inch round cake and assembled the cake as 2 layers and the whipped cream icing  recipe mentioned above was enough to fill and cover the cake. In case if you are making more layers, then increase the whipped cream icing accordingly.
• If you are following the above mentioned cake recipe, I recommend to tort each layer of the cake into 2 and make 4 thin layers of cake and then assemble, so it requires more whipped cream, so double the above given recipe.
• The icing once prepared has to be used immediately, it sets when left aside for sometime and doesn't pipe well.
• Refrigerate the cake and serve it chilled.