Easter Cherry Cake (Oster Kirschtorte)
(Oster Kirschtorte) A festive-looking cake with a filling of cherries and cherry brandy and a decorated creamy icing.
Ingredients
For the sponge cake:
- 3 fresh medium eggs
- 1 cup powdered sugar 100 g
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 cup flour 100 g
- 1 level tsp baking powder
For the cherry filling:
- 1 jar pitted cherries drained, 14 oz / 370 g
- 3 ounces preserved Emperor cherries drained (70 g jar)
- 5 packets gelatin 10 sheets
- juice and grated peel of 1 untreated lemon
- 2 oz cherry brandy
- 1-1/4 cups sugar 125 g
For the cream:
- 1 cup yoghurt 200 g
- 5/8 cup sugar 80 g
- 1 packet vanilla sugar
- 2/3 packet gelatin 3 sheets
- 2 Tbsp cherry brandy
- 1-1/4 cups cream 300 ml
- 3 oz dark chocolate finely chopped, 80 g
For the decoration:
- crushed shortbread
- 1 tablespoon chocolate chips
Instructions
For the sponge cake:
- Separate the eggs. Beat the egg yolks with 60g powdered sugar until creamy. Beat the egg whites with the remaining sugar and salt until stiff peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the creamed egg yolks. Sift the flour and baking powder together. Mix all the ingredients with a spatula.
- Line the base and sides of a spring-form pan (24 cm diameter) with parchment paper. Fill with the spongecake batter and bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees about 30 minutes. Remove the cake from the mold and leave to cool on a wire rack. Slice the cake in half horizontally to make two tin layers.
For the cherry filling:
- Drain cherries for the cherry filling and puree. Drain the Emperor cherries. Reserve some whole cherries for decoration, and set aside, covered. Cut the remaining cherries into halves and puree. Soften gelatin in cold water. Drain the softened gelatin and dissolve in the heated lemon juice. Stir the lemon zest into the cherry puree, and set aside to cool for about 10 minutes to thicken the mixture.
- Put the bottom of the sponge cake in the base of the spring-form pan. Spread the cherry puree on top of it. Place the second layer of cake on top, and put the cake in the refrigerator to set up for about 3 hours. When set, remove from the form.
- Mix the yogurt cream with the sugar and vanilla sugar. Soak the gelatin, and dissolve in heated kirsch. Stir in the cream. Whip the cherry cream mixture until stiff peaks form, and then fold in the finely chopped chocolate. Completely cover the cake with the cherry cream. Just before serving, spread the reserved Emperor cherries in Easter motifs (adding chicks or eggs as needed) and sprinkle the cake with chocolate curls.
Notes
Tip: You can easily bake chicks yourself to decorate the cake. Knead together 150 g flour, 80 g butter, 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 tablespoon milk. Set the dough aside, covered, for about 30 minutes in a cold place. Roll out thinly and cut out Easter chicks or other motives. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, bake in a preheated oven at 200 degrees about 12 minutes. Let cool and decorate with icing.