Black Forest Torte
Black Forest cakes, tortes, etc. typically have cherries and chocolate, which we wanted to downplay in this recipe, since we're not actually fruit-and-chocolate-lovers. This recipe has a brownie layer on the bottom and a mousse layer on top, with cherry preserves piped for decoration. The original recipe called for dried cherries and cherry liqueur, or kirsch, in the brownie batter, but I went with pureed sour cherry preserves for the topping. Saying it tasted like a twisted fruit bar (high honors for her!), my daughter approved.
Ingredients
For the brownie:
- 3/4 cup flour
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter
- 7 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
- 1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
- 4 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
- 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
For the mousse:
- 1 jar sour cherry preserves (12 ounces)
- 3 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups mascarpone cheese (12 ounces)
- 3/4 cup chilled whipping cream
Preparation
To make the brownie, pre-heat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan. Place the pan on a baking sheet.
Whisk the flour, cocoa, pepper and salt in small bowl to blend. Melt the butter and bittersweet chocolate in the microwave, stirring until smooth. Mix in 1/2 cup sugar. Using an electric mixer, beat the eggs, the remaining 1 cup sugar and vanilla extract in large bowl until the mixture is pale and thick, about 5 minutes. Using spatula, mix in the melted chocolate mixture. Fold the flour mixture into the batter. Fold the chocolate chips into batter.
Transfer the batter to a prepared pan; smooth the top. Bake until the top is dry and slightly cracked and a tester inserted into center of brownie comes out with some moist (not wet) batter attached, about 55 minutes. Cool the brownie in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the pan sides to loosen the cake. Remove the pan sides and cool the cake completely. Replace the sides of pan. (The brownie can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)
For the mousse: Puree the cherry preserves in a food processor until smooth. Transfer to a small resealable plastic bag.
Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract in a medium size bowl until very smooth. Reduce the speed to low. Beat in the mascarpone just until smooth. Add the cream and beat just until blended and still soft (do not overbeat). Immediately spread the mousse evenly over the cooled brownie.
Cut off enough of one 1 corner of the resealable plastic bag with the preserves to make a 1/8-inch opening. Pipe the preserves in parallel lines across mousse, spacing 1 inch apart, then pipe the preserves down the cake to make a checkerboard. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours, or overnight. Cut around the pan sides, then remove sides. Let the torte stand for 20 minutes at room temperature before serving.
