This modern take on crowd-pleasing Black Forest cake is the perfect ending to your holiday meal. Chocolate Christmas trees and a fluffy whipped cream topping transform this pie into a winter wonderland.
- Prep time 1 hour & 15 minutes
- Total time 3 hours & 15 minutes
- Portion size 10 servings
Ingredients
Cherry Filling:
Chocolate Filling:
Crust:
Topping:
Method
Crust: Mix wafer crumbs with butter until moistened; press into bottom andall the way up side of 9-inch (23 cm) pie plate. Refrigerate until chilled, about 15 minutes. Bake in 350 F (180 C) oven until firm and dry, about 14 minutes. Let cool completely.
Chocolate Filling: While crust is cooling, place chocolate in heatproof bowl. In small saucepan, heat 2/3 cup of the cream over medium heat just until bubbles form around edge of pan; pour over chocolate, whisking until smooth. Whisk in vanilla. Let stand, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, 15 to 20 minutes. Beat remaining cream until stiff peaks form; fold one-third into chocolate mixture. Fold in remaining whipped cream. Scrape over crust, smoothing top. Refrigerate until set, about 2 hours.
Cherry Filling: While chocolate filling is cooling, in large tall saucepan, bring cherries, sugar and lemon juice to boil over medium heat; cook, stirring often and breaking up cherries with back of spoon, until sauce is beginning to thicken and cherries are broken down, about 15 minutes.
Whisk cornstarch with half of the kirsch; stir into cherry mixture. Cook, stirring, until thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in remaining kirsch. Let cool slightly. Refrigerate until chilled, about 45 minutes. Spoon over chocolate filling, leaving 1/2-inch (1 cm) border. (Make-ahead: Cover loosely with plastic wrap; refrigerate for up to 24 hours.)
Topping: While cherry filling is cooling, in heatproof bowl set over saucepan of hot (not boiling) water, melt three-quarters of the chopped chocolate, stirring, until smooth. Scrape onto parchment paper– lined rimmed baking sheet; spread to scant 1/8-inch (3 mm) thickness. Refrigerate just until set, about 6 minutes.
Using 3 1/4-inch (8 cm) tall large Christmas tree cookie cutter and 1 3/4-inch (4.5 cm) tall small Christmas tree cookie cutter, press 3 large and 3 small tree shapes into chocolate. Refrigerate until firm, about 20 minutes. Using cookie cutters, and with a gentle twisting motion, cut shapes through to paper.
Melt remaining chopped chocolate; spoon into piping bag fitted with small plain tip. Pipe squiggles onto chocolate trees. Refrigerate until set, about 10 minutes. (Make-ahead: Cover loosely with plastic wrap; refrigerate for up to 3 days.)
Meanwhile, in bowl, beat cream with icing sugar until stiff peaks form; fold in kirsch. Spoon over cherry filling. Nestle chocolate trees on top of whipped cream. Sprinkle with chocolate shavings.
Tip from The Test Kitchen: Use a small offset spatula to spread the chocolate for the trees, then use it again to easily lift the hardened trees from the baking sheet.
Nutritional facts per each of 10 servings: about
- Fibre 3 g
- Sodium 150 mg
- Sugars 44 g
- Protein 4 g
- Calories 562.0
- Total fat 38 g
- Potassium 278 mg
- Cholesterol 90 mg
- Saturated fat 23 g
- Total carbohydrate 56 g
%RDI
- Iron 12.0
- Folate 7.0
- Calcium 5.0
- Vitamin A 28.0
- Vitamin C 5.0
