March 28th recognizes a decadent and delicious dessert on National Black Forest Cake Day. Black Forest cake is the English name for the German dessert Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte, meaning “Black Forest cherry torte.”
Most often, bakers layer several sheets of chocolate cake with whipped cream and cherries between each layer to make Black Forest cake. Then they decorated the cake with whipped cream, maraschino cherries, and chocolate shavings. Some traditional recipes call for sour cherries between the layers and a Kirschwasser (a clear liquor distilled from tart cherries) to be added to the cake. In the United States, bakers usually do not use alcohol. However, in Germany, liqueur is a mandatory ingredient. Otherwise, the cake can not legally be sold under the Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte name.
The cake is named after the specialty liquor (Schwarzwalder Kirschwasser) of the region of the Black Forest (Schwarzwald) mountain range in southwestern Germany.
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