​I love fruit desserts: nine times out of ten I will be baking a cobbler, fruit upside down cake, or pie with seasonal fruit. That said, there is also a special place in my heart for chocolate. That tenth dessert better be deep, dark chocolate, luscious and rich. Except for coffee, nothing pairs better with dark chocolate than cherries. Plenty has been written about the love affair between coffee and chocolate, but cherries’ affinity for chocolate gets little press. Though not a fan of chocolate covered cherries, I adore chocolate cakes with cherries and cookies adorned and or flavored with cherries.
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As a kid, cooking my way through the Time-Life Foods of the World cookbook series, I was dazzled by the photograph of the Schwarzwald Kirschtorte or Black Forest Cherry Cake. It is a grand dreamy cake of four layers of chocolate cake, brandied cherries, clouds of whipped cream, and an excessive coating of shaved chocolate. Unfortunately, the most familiar these days are the commercially available versions on view in supermarket bakery sections. The problems with these cakes are numerous: artificial whipped topping, low quality chocolate shavings, horribly sweet, artificially colored cherries, a base cake of not much chocolate taste, and no subtle tang of kirsch.

Kirschwasser, made in the Black Forest, is a clear brandy (schnapps,) literally “cherry water,” akin to the French eau de vie, “water of life.” Many brands of German kischwassers are available at liquor stores here in the states. While any brand will do for baking, I have a special fondness for a maker in Oregon, Clear Creek Distillery. http://www.clearcreekdistillery.com/products/clear-brandies/ I keep a bottle in my liquor cabinet to use in cherry desserts. (It is really a baking liquor cabinet. I keep brandy, Sailor Jerry’s Spiced rum, and Grand Marnier to use in cakes. The drinking vodka is in the freezer.)
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As a firm believer in keeping a well-stocked baking pantry, I keep my favorite cherry baking ingredients on hand for spontaneous ​cherry desserts. Over the years I’ve narrowed down my selection to a handful of cherry products that build cherry flavor in multiple layers. Besides the kirsch, I keep a few jars of Trader Joe’s brand Dark Morello Cherries in Light Syrup on hand. They are great right out of the jar with cottage cheese and work perfectly in any recipe calling for poached cherries. While at Trader Joe’s, I recommend purchasing their dried tart Montmorency cherries, as well. Since I make most of my own preserves, I buy only cherry jam, the French Bonne Maman brand. They use Morello cherries and do not stint on the fruit. This jam delivers true, tart cherry flavor for around five bucks a jar. Should you want to try a jar, you can join their email list and receive coupons for discounts. http://www.bonnemaman.us/join-our-newsletter/

​My best cherry recommendation, however, is Royal Harvest brand Bordeaux Maraschino Cherries with stems. Made with cherries and water as the first ingredients, they are much less sweet than traditional glowing red Maraschino cherries and are a pleasing natural cherry color. I’ve introduced both Maraschino lovers and haters to these cherries and so far, 100% have fallen in love with them and demanded to know where to get them. I found them in a northern California supermarket chain for about five dollars a jar. I’ve since seen them for around eight dollars in other stores and online.

The Black Forest cake is a great example of flavor layering for stronger cherry flavor. I like dark chocolate cake layers rather than the traditional lighter cake. I usually use this classic cocoa cake from Hershey’s: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/hersheys-perfectly-chocolate-chocolate-cake

Gather ingredients:
You’ll use more or less ingredients depending on the size cake and number of layers used as well as how generous you are with the ingredients.

• A cake pedestal or plate
• Three or four cake layers, either 8” or 9” rounds
• Kirsch, about ½ cup
• Cherry preserves, about ½ a jar
• Pitted cherries (frozen tart, canned tart, or my favorite bottled Morello) about 1-2 jars, drained
• Whipped cream, sweetened to taste, from about a pint of cream
• Maraschino cherries or fresh cherries, with stems attached for decoration, about 12
• Chocolate shavings or curls, for garnish, if desired

​Place one layer cake on the pedestal. Begin adding the cherry flavor by sprinkling kirsch over the bottom layer. Next, spread some cherry jam. Then place a good amount of drained, bottled cherries over the cake layer. Spread sweetened whipped cream over the cherries. Center the next cake layer over the whipped cream and repeat layering. Top with the final cake layer, sprinkle with kirsch, spread on whipped cream, and place maraschino cherries with stems decoratively around the top. Shower the top with chocolate shavings, if desired. If your cake is four layers high, you may want to secure the layers from sliding off with three bamboo skewers, trimmed to fit. (Remember to remove the skewers before serving.) Chill until serving time.
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Why am I not talking about fresh cherries? Isn’t fresh fruit better than canned, frozen or dried? In the case of cherries, the answer is no. Fresh cherries in season here on the west coast are all meant to be eaten fresh, right out of hand. They don’t really have the fruit acid, the natural tartness that’s needed for a great cherry pie. In Michigan, it’s possible to purchase fresh tart cherries in their brief season, and I would encourage bakers to seek them out. But better substitutes for most of us are canned or frozen tart cherries. If I have wonderful fresh cherries, I’m most likely just to eat them out of hand
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