Along with the rather sad oranges in caramel, wilting profiteroles, gaudy sherry trifle and fruit salad with too much apple, Black Forest Gâteau remains a sweet trolley favourite.

It's always there, isn’t it, in the most prominent position? “And will madam be having cream with that?” Yes, of course she will — we all do, saturating the already creamy black wedge into submission.

It is wolfed down day after day from Hastings to Hartlepool: dry sponge, cheap tinned cherries, ersatz cream and worryingly glossy icing. Neither waiter nor customer really cares whether it tastes good, how carefully it’s been prepared or where it came from. That is, until now.

Of all the retro dishes, this one seems to have plumbed the deepest depths. Who knows, perhaps once upon a time, somewhere in the very blackest bit of the Black Forest, an old woodcutter's wife knocked up a bit of chocolate cake, chopped it in half, threw in a few cherries, upended the kirsch bottle and filled the cake with cream. It was so good that word spread. So, of course, she bought a trolley, opened a restaurant, and the rest is history.

However loopy its mythical origin might be, the essence of a good Black Forest gâteau lies in carefully chosen ingredients, lavishly assembled.

Ingredients

Prep: 20min
Cook: 1hr
Serves 8-10

275g best-quality bitter-sweet chocolate, broken into pieces
100g semi-salted butter
75g dark brown sugar
1tbsp golden syrup
175g self-raising flour
25g cocoa
2 large eggs, beaten
150ml milk
700g good-quality bottled or tinned pitted cherries in syrup
2tbsp kirsch
600ml double cream

METHOD

Pre-heat the oven to 325F/170C/gas mark 3. Butter a 20cm x 5cm loose-bottomed cake tin and fit a circle of greaseproof paper into the base. Put 75g of the chocolate, plus the butter, sugar and syrup into a heavy-bottomed pan over a low heat and stir until everything is melted and amalgamated. Allow the mixture to cool until it is tepid but still molten.

Sift the flour and cocoa into the bowl of an electric mixer or use an electric hand-whisk. Add the chocolate mixture using a spatula and start to beat slowly together. Combine the eggs and milk and slowly pour this in. Whisk together gently, increasing the speed until the mixture is light and thick yet fluffy.

Spoon the mixture into the cake tin, smooth the surface and bake in a pre-heated oven for 35-40 minutes until firm and springy. A skewer inserted into the middle of the cake should come out clean. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for about 30 minutes before turning out on a wire rack.

Drain the cherries in a sieve suspended over a bowl. Tip them into another bowl and measure off 200ml of the cherry syrup. Add to this the two tablespoons of kirsch. With a serrated knife, slice the cake horizontally into three discs. Place each disc on an individual plate and spoon the cherry syrup and kirsch mixture evenly over the three and leave to soak in. Meanwhile, heat 200ml of double cream until it is about to simmer and add the remainder of the chocolate. Remove from the heat and stir gently until melted and very smooth. Pour into a bowl and allow to cool in the fridge while you assemble the cake.

Whip the other 400ml of double cream until thick. Spread one of the discs with half of it, cover with half of the cherries, pressing them in lightly, cover with the second disc and repeat the process. Finally, put on the third disc and gently, with the palms of both hands, press all together.

Have a look at the chocolate cream mixture in the fridge, which should be stiffening. Give it a stir: it needs to be thick enough to spread like icing. With a palette knife, cover the top and sides of the cake, spreading thickly until all the cream is used up. Leave to set in a cool place, preferably not the fridge as this can cause the “icing” to slide.

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