Things have been super exciting at our end for the last 32 days, since our Ian vaava was born.Yes, he turned a month old today. He is a very good baby and doesn't give his Amma a tough time. Touchwood, the term 'sleepless nights' don't seem to work in our household. So Jobin is 'Appan' and I am 'Amma'. My Appan and Amma are 'Appu' & 'Ammu', short form of Appoppan & Ammooma.Jobin's mom will be called 'Velliammachi',like how Ian vaava's cousin's call her.Ritchie is yet to be named :-)
Ian vaava was baptised on 12 August, at the Basilica here. It's the first Basilica in America and it's beautiful! I will share some photographs once we receive it. This cake was baked 2 days before his baptismal day as we were having guests over. It's been on Amma's list for a long time, so we thought of going ahead with it...a Black Forest Cake. The fruit that Appan & Amma has been munching ever since they landed in the US are Bing Cherries. To be honest, I keep buying pounds of it in their name...I love it too! So making a Black Forest Cake was another excuse to eat up those maroon Cherries.
The cake was a simple yet super spongy chocolate sponge cake which rose beautifully and gave us 4 layers. The cherry filling was made with basic ingredients and tasted just perfect.It was my first attempt at making the filling from scratch so the ingredients were thrown in at random measurements which worked perfectly well.
The cake was very well recieved but I wasn't awake to see it. I heard it from Amma, the next day that it was a success and I knew it the minute I opened the fridge as it had almost vanished! Amma also said that Appan usually says 'Eval enthu cake ondakkiyalum nallatha nallatha ennu parayum' . I don't think he would say that again :-) The gateau was loved by all.
RUM & VANILLA CHERRY GATEAUMy own recipe
Ingredients:
Fatless Chocolate Sponge:
6 eggs
1 c sugar
1/2 c flour
1/4 c cocoa powder
1/4 c cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla
Method: Preheat the oven to 350F/180C and line 2 x 8 inch round cake tins.
In a large spotlessly clean bowl , beat the eggs and sugar for 15 mins on high.It should be super foamy and mousse like.Add vanilla and beat for another 1 minute. Sift the flour, cocoa powder & cornstarch over it and fold it in gently.Divide the batter between the two tins and bake for 25-30 mins or until springy to touch. Let it cool completely. Split each cake into 2.Dust off the cake crumbs and reserve till needed.
Rum & Vanilla Cherry filling
2 c pitted fresh cherries
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp dark rum
2 tsp vanilla
1 c sugar
1 c water
Method: In a medium sized bowl, mix together cherries, 2 tbsp sugar, rum & vanilla. Mix well and leave it covered in the fridge overnight.
In a medium saucepan, add the macerated cherries (along with it's juices), 1 c sugar, 1 c water and bring it to a boil. Switch off the heat and let it cool completely. The syrup would have thickened by now.(You will need almost all of the syrup to soak the 4 layers to get a real moist gateau.)
For filling, frosting & decorating
2 c heavy cream, whipped with sugar to taste
8 whole cherries
150g dark chocolate,shaved
Assembly: Place a layer of the cake on a cake stand,drizzle with the cherry syrup uniformly,spread a thick layer of whipped cream and then scatter some of the rum-vanilla cherries over it. Repeat. The topmost layer should be the 4th layer of cake. Cover the top and sides with whipped cream . Decorate with grated/shaved chocolate & whole cherries. Refrigerate the assembled cake overnight for the flavours to blend . Serve chilled.
So the other day, we went to our favourite Italian restaurant for dinner & dessert, which of course had to be Tiramisu. After having a piece of it, we asked Appan about how he liked it. He said ,'Ethum nallatha pakshe aval ondakkiya aa cake thanneya ethinekkalum nallathu!' Wow! Now that Tiramisu has a competitor, I must say ;-)
Jokes apart, this is seriously good! The cake layers soaked in the syrup very well lending a melt in the mouth texture. The rum-vanilla cherries were mild yet flavourful. This gateau was so good that I really don't think I would even give another Black Forest Cake recipe a try.
30 Comments:
Congratulations! The cake looks very tempting and perfect and it is on my to-do list. You are as beautiful as your pictures, Ria. :)
Beautiful family and a lovely cake... God bless u all :-) so happy for u Ria
Happy one month day to vava kutti! Great to see you looking well- and not comatose like I was those first 3 months! This cake looks amazing and that cake stand is almost as cute as Ian's toes!
cake looks amazing, my fav... ur vava is a sweetheart , god bless. and hats off to u, cant believe u r up and cooking so soon after ur delivery... do take some good rest :)
Congratulations! What a beautiful family.
That cake looks amazing!
Cheers,
Rosa
Glad to see you having the time of your life Ria and even glad to know Ian vava is not giving you sleepless nights!Blackforest cake looks beautiful!
That's so sweet of Ian vava! I still remember the first month with my son... he didn't sleep at all in the nights and cried like crazy... in fact i don't think anyone in the apartment building could sleep in his first month :) The cake looks absolutely delicious and tempting......
Cake and baby both look so beautiful! Please translate what your father said in english for us to understand and what is 'vaava'? Does it mean 'baby' or is it his middle name?
Congrats Ria, cute family and hugs to cute baby, cake looks so delicious...
VIRUNTHU UNNA VAANGA
Baby IAn is such a sweetheart...already so considerate to his mum...my son is 2.5 and he still doesnt sleep through the night..the first 3 months were sheer torture...but looking back i still smile...its all good.hope u are taking care of urself..enjoy ur parents company and take lotts of pics...love the fact that ur already back to blogging..!!
Nice and amazing snaps of Ian vava. The cake looks just like store bought cake.
Beautiful photos!
Baby Ian is SO cute, Ria! Congratulations againnn! I couldn't be happier for you. Great pick with the cake, such a nostalgia hit!
Congratulations!
The cake looks beautiful and definitely going to the to-do list once my 4 month old leaves me enough time to step near the oven.
Hii Ria... Congratulations... Praying that your baby is always a bundle of joy and brings a lot of happiness to the family...
I had made the black forest cake 2 days back and it was really very very yumm... I used strawberries instead of Cherries... It was so yumm that even my mum who dont like chocolates and never eats anything chocolaty gobbled a huge slice of the cake :) Thanks a lot for your recipe...
Oh, Ria, Ian is gorgeous! A huge congratulations to both of you! Fabulous news! And a beautiful cake to celebrate!
Hi Ria,
The cake looks mouth watering..
Beautiful cake & an even more beautiful baby! :) Congratulations to you! :)
Hey Ria,
First of all, congrats on your new bundle of joy! :)
I am new to your blog, but ever since I landed here for the first time, I have been hooked onto it. I have just started trying my hand at baking and am loving it. I have been following quite a few blogs, but when it comes to baking, I must say I liked yours way more than any other. And I like your style of writing too. Anyways, enough of my kathi. Will let you know when I try out your recipes. :)
Take care.
Remya
http://remya-r.blogspot.com.au/
Heaven in a few simple bites
Gujaratonnet.com
Congratulations....mouth watering gateau...my first visit here...happy to follow u...
hi ria, I know u r a busy mom and with a new born baby its tough to blog but plz come back soon wont u? waiting to read ure wonderful posts.The cake looks awesome by the way :)
Hii Ria... Congratulations... Praying that your baby is always a bundle of joy and brings a lot of happiness to the family...Thanxs for sharing with all of us the Incredible post on ur blog . Its really illusive.
Custom Cupcakes Kentucky
Beautiful fudgy brownies. Love ur clicks and your little one. Hugs to him!
hi ria,
wanted to make the black forest gateau but was wondering wat kind of cherries did u use is it tinned or fresh.
thanks bimil
Hello Bimil, I used fresh but is that's not available for you , use tinned. If that's the case, you will have to adjust the sweetness for the filling.
hi ria..i hav been following ur blog silently...good work!!!
Hi Ria
I tried this recipe with half the ingredients coz I was not sure how it will turn out. The cake was kinda flat and formed a thin crust on top which could be peeled off! Dunno why it happened. Flavours were OK. But I expected to make 2 layers since I was using half the ingredients but since it didn't rise I couldn't cut it in half. Could you kindly let me know what could have gone wrong. Thank you in advance.
Hi Preethi, when I cut the recipe in half, I use a smaller tin just to get a better height for the cake or else it will be very thin. This is a fatless sponge recipe without any leavening agents like baking powder. The cake rises because of the power of the eggs. When you beat them, did it rise in volume and become foamy? It kind of looks like a mousse when done right. I feel if the bowl / beaters are a tiny bit greasy, it prevents the eggs from attaining it’s full volume which leads to a flat, unrisen cake. The crust that you got could have been from undissolved sugar crystals in the cake batter.This cake gets almost all the flavour from the filling because it’s a very basic sponge cake and is extremely versatile. Also, be very gentle when you fold in the flour. Use a light hand for it. I really hope this helps!!
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