Fresh Fruit With Kirsch Food

CHERRIES WITH KIRSCH AND SORBET

Steps:

• In a small bowl, toss together cherries, kirsch, and sugar. Let stand until cherries soften and become juicy, about 1 hour.
• Place a large scoop of sorbet in each of four chilled wine goblets or dessert glasses. Spoon cherries over, and serve immediately.

FRESH FRUIT WITH KIRSCH

Steps:

• Slice pineapple and stack the slices on a plate.
• Serve with the confectioners' sugar and a decanter of kirsch.

MARY'S ROYAL CHERRY TRIFLE

Steps:

• First, make the custard. Tip the caster sugar, cornflour and vanilla into a mixing bowl and add the eggs and egg yolk. Whisk with a hand whisk until smooth and blended.
• Pour the milk and double cream into a pan and heat gently until hot, but do not boil. Pour this over the egg mixture and immediately whisk until blended. Wash the pan to remove any scum from the milk and pour the custard back into the clean pan. Heat gently, stirring constantly until thickened. Don't panic if the custard starts to look lumpy as it thickens, just continue to heat and whisk until the custard is thick and smooth. Pour into a jug and cover the surface of the custard with cling film to prevent a skin from forming. Set aside to cool.
• Tip the stoned cherries into a pan with half the jam or conserve and cook over a medium heat for 5-10 mins until softened and saucy. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly.
• Spread half the slices of Madeira cake generously with the remaining cherry jam. Sandwich with the remaining cake slices, then cut in half. Pour the kirsch or brandy into a shallow bowl, dip each sponge sandwich into the liqueur, then arrange in the base of the trifle dish (you will need a shallow, straight-sided, 20cm round glass dish about 5cm deep). Line the edges of the dish first to create a stripy effect, then fill in the centre with the remaining sandwiches, pouring over any remaining liquid.
• Spoon over the cherries and any juice from the pan, then scatter over the broken biscuits. Pour over the cooled custard, then spread whipped cream over the top. Decorate with fresh whole cherries and chill for a few hours, or make it a day ahead and chill for up to 24 hours before serving.

RASPBERRY COULIS

Steps:

• Heat the sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring from time to time, until the sugar dissolves completely, about 5 minutes.
• Put the raspberies and the sugar syrup in a blender and puree.
• Strain through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds and stir in the kirsch or framboise, if using.
• The sauce keeps well, tightly covered, in the refrigerator for 4-5 days and freezes perfectly for several months.

AUTHENTIC BLACK FOREST CAKE (SCHWARZWALD KIRSCH KUCHEN)

Steps:

• Pit most of the cherries leaving about 10 for decoration on top of the cake. Take the pitted cherries and soak them in a jar of the 1/2 cup Kirsch overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F Line the bottom of three 9 inch round cake pans with parchment.
• Sift the dry cake ingredients together.
• Cream the shortening and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well.
• Add the dry ingredients alternately with the buttermilk and mix well.
• Pour evenly into the cake pans. Bake for 20 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean.
• Cool and remove the cakes. Prick the tops of the cakes with a toothpick and pour the 1/2 cup of Kirsch (that the cherries soaked in) onto the cake.
• In a bowl beat the butter until light and creamy. Add the icing sugar, salt and espresso and mix well. If the icing is too thick add Kirsch or cherry juice.
• Cut the cherries into halves.
• Place the base layer on top of your cake tray, spread 1/2 of the filling over one top, cover with cherries and top with another layer of cake.
• Spread the second half of the filling over that layer of cake, cover with cherries and top with the third layer of cake. Cover this and let sit in the fridge for a day or two to allow the kirsch to soak into the cake and become moist.
• The day you're going to serve this cake prepare the icing. Whip the cream until it forms stiff peaks.
• Gently fold in the dry milk and icing sugar.
• Add the vanilla and pour in the Kirsch until it's a good consistency.
• If you like more icing double this recipe. Spread the icing over all of the cake.
• Place the fresh, intact cherries on top for decoration and cover the top with the chocolate shavings. Serve and enjoy!

BERRIES WITH KIRSCH WITH MINT

Steps:

• Combine fruit in a small mixing bowl, and toss with sugar and kirsch. Refrigerate until needed, at least 1 hour, tossing occasionally. Transfer to a serving bowl, and garnish with torn mint leaves.

BLACK FOREST CAKE

Steps:

• To Make the Cake:
• Preheat the oven to 350°. Place the rack in the center of the oven. Butter and flour a 10-inch cake pan that is 3 inches deep such as a springform mold.
• Sift the 1/2 cup flour, the cocoa, and the salt together onto a sheet of parchment paper and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs, sugar, and vanilla at high speed until the mixture has tripled in volume and is very thick, about 8 minutes. When the whisk is lifted, the batter will form a thick ribbon as it falls back into the bowl.
• Lower the speed to stir and carefully tap the dry ingredients into the egg mixture. As soon as all the flour has been added to the eggs, stop the machine. Pour in the melted butter, making sure to leave the white, milky solids behind. With a large rubber spatula, using as few strokes as possible, finish folding the flour mixture and butter into the batter until evenly mixed.
• Immediately scrape the batter into the prepared pan, place the pan on a baking sheet, and bake until the cake feels just firm to the touch, about 40 minutes. Transfer the cake to a rack and let it cool for about 5 minutes. Then turn the cake upside down onto a rack to cool. This will flatten the slightly domed top.
• To Make the Syrup:
• Place the sugar and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring the mixture to a boil while stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the kirsch and remove from the heat. Pour the syrup into a small cup or bowl and set it aside.
• To Assemble the Cake:
• In a large bowl, whip the cream with the sugar and vanilla on medium-high speed until it holds firm peaks. Do not overbeat; the whipped cream should be smooth and firm. Divide the cream into 4 equal portions and set them aside. (This helps prevent getting to the last bit of decorating and discovering you have run out of cream.) Drain the cherries and divide them into 2 equal piles. Reserve 8 to 12 cherries to garnish the top of the cake if you do not have fresh cherries.
• Place the cake on a work surface with its original top up. Trim off any hard crusts. With a long serrated knife, cut the cake horizontally into 3 even layers. Transfer the top layer to a serving plate, arranging it top side down. Brush it liberally with the syrup. With an offset spatula or rubber spatula, smooth on a 1/2-inch layer of whipped cream. Push the cream a little beyond the edge of the cake. (This prevents gaps when you settle the next layer on top.) Nestle half of the cherries into the whipped cream, scattering them evenly over the top.
• Place the middle cake layer on top of the cherries, pressing it lightly into the whipped-cream layer. Brush with syrup, spread with whipped cream, and scatter the remaining half of the cherries over the cream.
• Finally, add the last cake layer, cut side up, on top of the cherries, again settling it into the whipped-cream layer. Brush with syrup. With an icing spatula or a large rubber spatula, spread a thin layer of whipped cream over the top of the cake. Spread a thicker layer onto the sides.
• Pastry shops add a decorative scalloped edge of ground dark chocolate around the base of the cake. Fill your cupped palm with some of the ground chocolate and lift and tilt it onto the base of the cake all around the bottom edge. Rotate the cake between handfulls. It's the heel of your hand that forms the scalloped edge.
• Rotate the edge of a sharp knife against the block of chocolate to make curls or cut shavings with a vegetable peeler. Pile them on top of the cake.
• Scoop the remaining whipped cream into a pastry bag fitted with a medium star tip. Pipe fat rosettes all around the top edge of the cake. Press a fresh or spirited cherry into the center of each rosette. Refrigerate the cake for at least 4 hours to let the flavors meld. Just before serving, dust the top with powdered sugar.
• Alcohol-Free Variation
• Use about 24 ounces of preserved sour cherries in syrup. Drain the cherries, reserving the syrup and cherries separately. In a small saucepan, bring to a boil 1/3 cup espresso or strong coffee, the reserved syrup, and 3/4 cup sugar (or to taste), stirring until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and reserve until needed.
• Bûche de Noël de Henri Variation
• For our Christmas menu in 2010, we used Black Forest flavors for our bûche de Noël. We baked the génoise as a sheet cake, soaked it with the kirsch syrup, spread it thickly with the whipped cream, and then scattered the cherries over the cream before rolling up the cake. We iced it with the traditional chocolate buttercream. This makes a lighter-than-usual bûche, and our guests cleaned their plates.