Kinda sorta but yet, not really

Hello again. Sorry for the lack of posts over the last month. It's not like I didn't have great recipes to post or stories to tell. With all that has been going on at work, I have been physically and mentally exhausted every day.

My company's annual banquet was February 2nd - it went off without a hitch again this year and I had my second successful GF meal at the Pheasant Run Resort. The Man and I had a great time but I could barely move on Sunday (too much dancing). Then I had a...visitor...from hell, which caused me to miss a day of work and be in monstrous pain for 3 days.

Oh, and the sewer backed up into the basement.




We have another full-company meeting this coming Friday. I am hoping that once I get through that, life will go back to normal, as will my posting schedule.

So, now my excuse-making is over.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day. The Man sent me a dozen multi-colored roses at work (for the first time, I might add!) and I made a delicious shrimp scampi with pasta for our dinner that evening. But the dessert was stupendous and I can't believe it went together as well as it did. I didn't get home until 5:30, so the fact that we ate this at 7:30 says it all.

The title of this post? I was craving black forest cake. I didn't have any kircsh in the house so I did the best with what I had.

The Man and I split one since this is kinda rich. Sorry for the crappy picture. Tried to take it too late in the day and my arms were shaking after whipping the hell out of the ganache.



Cherry-Stuffed Chocolate Cake with Milk Chocolate Ganache
From The Vault and my head

For the cake:
6 ounces bittersweet chocolate
3 tbsp water
5 eggs, separated
1/2 cup sugar
A pinch of salt

For the cherry "stuffing:"
1 bag frozen sweet dark cherries
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup water

For the ganache:
12 ounces milk chocolate
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 stick unsalted butter

To make the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a half-jelly pan and line it with parchment paper. Then butter the paper and set aside.

Chop the chocolate for the cake and combine it with the water in a double boiler over low heat. Stir occasionally until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Allow to cool.

In a mixer bowl, beat the egg whites with the salt until they hold soft peaks. Add 1/4 cup sugar and continue to beat for 3 minutes.

In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks with the remaining 1/4 cup sugar until the mixture is very light.

Combine the chocolate with the yolks, then gently fold in the egg whites. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 15 minutes or until the cake is firm to the touch.

To make the cherry stuffing:

Combine the cherries and water in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until the cherries are soft; lightly mash the fruit with the back of a spoon. Add the sugar and cornstarch and stir until dissolved; turn the heat to low and continue to stir until the mixture becomes thick. Remove from the heat.

To make the ganache:

Bring the cream and butter to a boil in a saucepan; remove from the heat and then add the chocolate (chop first). Whisk until smooth and then refrigerate until thickened. Note that this recipe will make a lot more ganache than you need; I recommend a nice brownie to use the rest up (hopefully coming sooner than later).

To put the whole thing together:

How you do this is up to you. You can slice the cake into 3 pieces or you can do what I did, which was to use a biscuit cutter to cut 6 circles and save the leftovers for snacking. If you do the circles, you will have 2 small cakes.

Place the first layer on a plate (either 1/3 of the cake if you sliced or 2 separate circles). Spread some cherry stuffing on top of the first layer, then spread some ganache (I layered pretty thick with both, but that's up to you). Place the next cake layer on top. Again spread cherry filling and ganache. Place the third layer on top and spread with cherry filling and ganache. Chill for an hour before serving. Serve with whipped cream.