All I Want for Christmas is a Black Forest Cherry Torte

My parents host Christmas dinner, and I promised my Mom I would bring dessert.  While I like pie better than cake, I find I am far better at baking cakes than pies.  Since Mom was making Roast Pork Loin with Sour Cherries for dinner, I thought this Black Forest Cherry Torte would compliment dinner nicely.

I made a few minor modifications to the recipe.  I omitted the almond extract, since I'm not a fan.  Also, Bryan didn't find kirschwasser at the liquor, so brought home a cherry flavored brandy instead.

The torte itself is a rather involved process, though not overly difficult.  Step 1 had me baking 3 layers of chocolate cake.  One of the most time consuming parts of the entire process was finely grating 9 oz. of semisweet chocolate.  I grated three 3 oz. bars using the fine side of my box grater, which took roughly forever.  Surely there is a better way, one which I am not aware of.  Since the chocolate is not melted, but is rather folded into the cake batter, this was a necessary evil.  The perk was my fingers being covered in melting chocolate.

The cake batter also had me wishing I had an extra bowl for my mixer, as I first needed to cream the butter and sugar, and then beat egg whites.  I got by just fine without it, but my lazy self would have liked to have an extra bowl.

Since I made the cakes on Friday, I decided I would wait until Saturday to assemble the torte itself.  I was worried that the brandy would make the cakes soggy, and the whipped cream would begin to break down if I let it sit overnight.

Saturday morning, I assembled the cake: brandy, cherry preserves, and whipped cream in the middle.

And whipped cream frosting with chocolate shavings on top.

The cake was a huge hit. I have to admit, it was insanely delicious.  And, it turned out, even better the next day.  The brandy had some time to mellow out, and the cakes did not get soggy as I had feared, nor did the cream start to melt.  Next time, I'll definitely make the entire thing the day before.

Oh yes, I said next time.  This cake was definitely worth the effort.