White Forest Cake

Hi everyone..Today, I am posting a recipe of one of the delicious cake i.e 'White Forest Cake'..I baked this cake for my son's 4th birthday which is on march 18..Both me and my son's birthday falls on same month ;)..Earlier I baked this cake on my birthday which falls on march 7,as I posted earlier..
 I think most of you have heard about Black Forest Cake and White Forest Cake..Though both cake's method and decoration remains same but there is little difference..In Black Forest Cake, base of the cake is chocolate cake which uses cocoa powder, but in White Forest Cake,cake is baked plain without adding cocoa powder,so it is white in colour...This cake is cut into 2 or 3 layers which is sandwiched with cherry sugar syrup and whipped cream in each layer,covered fully with whipped cream and finally decorated in grated chocolate on top and sides ( grated white chocolate in case of ' White Forest Cake' and grated dark chocolate in the case of  'Black Forest Cake')  and cherries on top..I baked Black Forest Cake for my son's 3 rd birthday last year..This year I baked White Forest Cake for a change..When I searched google,a lot of Black Forest Cake recipe is available, but only few White Forest Cake's recipe are available and some of it didn't satisfy me..So I created my own recipe for baking white cake..I don't do much frosting on cake as my hubby is against it..But my son loves frosting..Hope my cake looks wonderful by seeing this picture below as I am not very good at frosting :) ..Okay,Let us go to the recipe :)

Note: My little one is about to take the cake..You can see his fingers on left side :D..I clicked the photo fast as he don't have patience :D

     Ingredients

        For Dry Ingredients:

• All Purpose Flour - 1 1/2 Cups
• Baking powder - 1 tsp
• Baking Soda - 1/4 tsp ( If using cream of tartar, ignore it)
• Salt - a pinch

        For Wet Ingredients:

• Eggs,yolks and white separated - 4 no.s ( room temperature)
• Butter - 3 tbsp ( room temperature)
• Veg Oil - 1/4 cup
• Vanilla Essence - 1 tsp
• Powdered Sugar - 1 1/2 cup
• Milk - 3/4 cup ( room temperature)
• Cream of Tartar - 1/4 tsp ( optional- If using baking soda,ignore it)
• Melted White Chocolate - 4 tbsp ( melt white chocolate using microwave or double boiling method)

         For Cherry Syrup

• Chopped glazed cherries- few 
• Sugar - 1/2 cup
• Water -3/4 cup
• Vanilla Essence - 1/4 tsp ( optional)

       For Assembling and Decoration

• Whipping Cream - 500 ml
• Icing Sugar - 1/4 cup
• Baking White Chocolate - 1 large bar required for grating
• Glazed Whole Cherries in Syrup - 5 to 6 no.s

    Method

         For White Cake

• In a bowl, mix thorough all the 'dry ingredients' mentioned with a whisk or spatula and keep aside..

• Separate egg whites and yolks as shown below..

• In a clean and moisture free bowl and make sure beater blades also moisture free,beat the egg whites at high speed till soft peak forms, then add cream of tartar ( optional) and beat again..While beating, make sure to OFF the mode at few seconds and beat again..When egg white reaches stiff peaks or hard pointed peaks OFF the mode...Keep aside..

• In another large bowl, beat egg yolks till pale..Add powdered sugar and beat well..Add oil and butter and beat well..Finally add vanilla essence and beat for l second..

• Add 1/3 of flour mixture ( dry ingredients) and 2 tbsp of milk and beat at a low speed..Scrap the sides and add remaining flour and milk and beat again.. Continue this steps three times till all the flour and milk is used up..

• Add melted white chocolate and beat well at a low speed till combined..

• Finally add meringue ( beaten egg whites) and fold slowly with a spatula or any large spoon in a clock wise direction..Do not use beater at this stage.

• Pour this batter into a greased baking dish and bake in a Pre heated oven to 180 degree Celsius for 40 mins till the skewer or fork inserted comes out clean. Otherwise bake five minutes more..

• Keep this in a wire rack and let it cool completely before frosting the cake..

• Meanwhile make sugar syrup  and frosting as mentioned below.

         For Sugar Syrup

• In a sauce pan,  heat sugar and water together in a low flame till the sugar dissolve completely..

• Add few chopped cherries into it and boil for few seconds..

• Add vanilla essence ( optional)..Off the flame and set aside to cool..

          For Frosting

• Make sure to keep the bowl and beater blades used for whipping blade should be ice cold...Keep these in a freezer for 10 to 15 mins..

• Pour cold whipping cream ( not room temperature) into a cold bowl and beat at medium speed for few seconds..

• Add icing sugar and beat at medium speed for few minutes and off the mode for few seconds...

• Finally, move the mode to highest and beat well till is about to get thick..Make sure to off the mode in between for few seconds..Turn the mode to highest and beat well till thick peak form as shown in picture below..Then Off the mode..Do not over beat when it reaches thick peak otherwise it will curdle and turn into butter..

• Refrigerate the beaten whipping cream and take out at the time of decorating cake..

          For Assembling and decorating of cake

• Remove the crust part of the cake as shown in the pic below..This is done to keep the cake flat at the time of frosting

• Cut the cake into three layers carefully with a large sharp knife..Oops!!! third cake layer got broken while cutting it..Never mind, mend the cake pieces and it will hide by frosting the cake.

• Place third layer on cake board or large plate, add sugar syrup along with chopped cherries evenly and spread a  large dollop of whipping cream and a few chopped glazed cherries sandwich with second layer..

• Repeat the process with second layer and sandwich it with third layer..

• Add remaining sugar syrup and top and spread the whipping cream completely on top and sides of the cake and level as shown in picture..

• Take refrigerated baking white chocolate bar and grate it...Decorate grated white chocolate lavishly on top and sides..Wipe the excess with tissue paper..

Grated White Chocolate

Assembling the layers

• Put the remaining whipping cream in a piping pan..You can use star nozzle or moon shaped nozzle..Pipe into rounds as shown in the pic below..Place glazed cherries on top of it..

• Refrigerate the cake for few hours and cut into triangle shape and serve chilled..

      Notes

• You can make black forest cake same this method..Add cocoa powder instead of white chocolate for baking cake and use grated dark chocolate instead of white for decorating..

• Originally cherry liquor or rum is added in  place of sugar syrup..As I said earlier, I don't use alcohol any of my cooking so I ignore that..So,I made my own cherry sugar syrup..If you have a lots of syrups in glazed cherry can, you can ignore making sugar syrup..As I have very less syrup in my can,so I made the syrup..

• As I don't make much frosting on cake,it seems little difficult for me..Its better to bake cake earlier and do frosting later..So you don't feel its a heavy task

• Always frost the cake,when cake completely cools down otherwise whipping cream will melt..Also make sure that frosting should be thick..