yum!

black forest gateaux cupcakes ...

maybe it's because i'm a child of the seventies but i really do love black forest gateaux!  you hardly ever see it on restaurant menus any more and then when you do, it never really lives up to my expectations - yes, i'm getting fussy in my old age :)

so, i decided i would make it for myself.  but, not wanting to eat a whole gateaux to myself, thought that a few wee cupcakes might be kinder to my waistline.

and they were just delish!  the sponge was chocolatey and moist, there were tons of gooey cherries and a (un)healthy dollop of cream and dark chocolate to top it all off - i will definitely be making these again!

if you fancy having a bash, here's a rough recipe (i halved these amounts and got seven large cupcakes) ...

for the sponge:
340g/12oz golden caster sugar
340g/12oz unsalted butter
6 eggs
240g/8½oz self raising flour, sifted
100g/3½oz cocoa

= cream the sugar and the butter together until light and fluffy.
= beat the eggs in one at a time.
= fold in the sifted flour and cocoa powder.
= half fill the cupcake cases with this mix and bake at 170 oC / 325 oF / gas mark 3.  i think i left them in for about 15 mins before checking them.
= to test if they are ready, insert a skewer into the middle, if it comes out clean, they're done!  if not, pop them back in the oven for a few mins and test again.

for the filling (i was lazy here and bought ready-made, but it was very tasty!):
a can/carton of morello cherry pie filling
2 tbsp kirsch

= reserve a little of the liquid from the pie filling and mix with the kirsch.
= pour this over the cupcakes so that it soaks into the sponge.

= once the cupcakes are cool, carefully remove a core of sponge from the middle of the cupcake.  try to leave a little sponge in the base so that it doesn't fall apart when you remove the case to eat it.
= fill the middle of the cupcake with the pie filling, don't fill it right to the top as this will give you space to put a wee slice of sponge back on the top.
= slice the 'plug' of cupcake you removed so that you have a thin disk of sponge to place on top of the pie filling.
= eat the remaining sponge pieces - you don't want it to go to waste!

for the topping:
600ml/21 fl oz double cream
200g/7oz dark chocolate 
couple tsps of the pie filling

= whip the double cream until stiff and plonk a dollop on top of the cupcake.
= grate some dark chocolate over the top of the cream.
= add a wee blob of the pie filling to top it all off.

stand back to admire your handywork and ... enjoy :)