Black Forest Gateau
Give a little love on Mother’s Day.
I grew up living in the same family house as my grandparents. To please my grandmother Doris, I would be up and smartly dressed by 10.30 am every Sunday morning, ready for church and Sunday school.
On Mothering Sunday we would make flower arrangements in Sunday school as well as read some moral story in the bible. Afterward, we would give our mums the flower arrangement and ‘do the washing up’ which the teacher told us would be a lovely thing to do on this special Sunday.
What could be nicer than gifting something you have made, whether it is a cake, a flowers arrangement, pickles, or jam… And not forgetting the washing up!
My mother loves black forest gateau and so this recipe is dedicated to her.
Serves 6–8
For the cake:
— 400 ml coconut milk
— 2 very ripe bananas
— 70 g cacao powder
— 125 g buckwheat flour
— 100 g ground almonds
— 165 g coconut sugar
— 4 tsp baking powder
— ¼ tsp vanilla powder
— 15 g poppy seeds
— 25 g cacao nibs
— 190g cherries
For the filling:
— 100ml coconut milk
— 1tbsp cacao powder
— 1tbsp maple syrup
— 1 tbsp chia seeds
For the topping:
— 2very ripe bananas
— 150ml Dr Oetker Vega cream
— 2 tbsp chia seeds
— 2 tbsp cherry water
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Pour the coconut milk into a standing mixer and whisk on a low speed for 4–5 minutes. Mash the bananas and add to the coconut milk for the last 2 minutes of mixing, to create a smooth and creamy paste.
Combine all other ingredients in a mixing bowl and then stir into the coconut and banana cream. Mix well for 5 minutes until it is completely combined and smooth.
When it is done add the strained cherries, buy them in a jar in water without added sugar. Keep the cherry water as you will need this later. Fold carefully the cherries into the mix, do this softly to ensure they stay whole.
Pour the cake mix into three tins which are 15cm in diameter and flatten it out. Put the tin into the preheated oven for 40–45 minutes.
Whilst the brownie is baking, make the chocolate filling cream. Place all ingredients together in a jar and stir well, place in the fridge to stiffen.
Prepare the topping also as this needs to be placed in the fridge to chill and stiffen. Firstly, mash the banana and cream together with the vega cream, add the chia seeds and cherry water which give in a hint of pink although you can leave this out.
After the brownie has been baking for 40 minutes use a cocktail stick to check if the cake is ready. Push the cocktail stick into the centre of the cake and if it comes out clean, the cake is ready. Don’t worry if there are some small bits of cake that remain on the cocktail stick, this is ok as we want the cake to be moist and gooey, but the stick should not be completely covered with the mixture. If it is completely covered with the mixture, then cook for another 5-10 minutes and keep checking with the cocktail stick technique.
Once the cream cakes have cooled down to room temperature, sandwich them with the inner two layers get a good 1cm coating with the chocolate cream. Finally, the top of the cake should be covered with cherry cream, you can add a sprinkle of edible rose petals to the top for a little more TaDa!!!!!
Photos: Maximilian Probst