Volume 11, Issue 77 - October 17, 2006

Good Day Member,

Café Bites:

In the Black Forest, as in the rest of Europe, cafés are more than just places to grab a quick bite to eat or a cup of coffee. They define a way of life that is characterized by ritual, elegance and gracious hospitality.

In my youth, cafés were part of everyday life, and still are today.

Much like the taverns of eighteenth-century America, European cafés developed as community meeting places where folks could relax, socialize, and take refreshment. Today in much of America, where nearly everyone has cars and is accustomed to traveling great distances on a daily basis, the popularity of local taverns and diners has largely waned. In the Black Forest, however, as in much of Europe, cafés remain significant fixtures in towns of all sizes. When I was a boy, few people in my town owned a car, so they walked everywhere, including to church, the butcher's shop, and the cafés. So valued was café life in my day that even the smallest Black Forest village supported several establishments. The community might have been without cars, but they had several varieties of meringues available at nearly any given moment! Our town had more than its fair share of cafés, and, in fact, my Uncle Karl worked for years as head pastry chef in one of the best, the Café Frei in Pforzheim.

Cafés are destination spots of two distinct sorts. On the one hand they serve a local clientele, many of whom visit routinely on weekday afternoons for conversation, coffee, and a snack. They also serve visitors from neighboring towns and villages who take long hikes on the weekends and look forward to stopping for a bite to eat. Some even walk these long distances with a particular café  in mind -  one that is renowned for its Bienenstich or Black Forest cake, for example.

An excerpt from Black Forest Cuisine.

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Quiche with Black Forest Ham
Quiche Wildbader Art

This quiche pays tribute to the town of Bad Wildbad in the northern Black Forest. Famous for its thermal baths, the town is also celebrated for it numerous smoke houses and the marvelous smoked hams, sausages and other meats produced by the city's inhabitants.

Cafés serve this dish in a variety of forms. Sometimes it is thick, baked in a tart or pie pan, and other times it is quite thin. This quiche can also be served at almost any time of day. In the Black Forest, we enjoy it at room temperature or chilled as a light lunch with a green salad or by itself as a late afternoon snack. With all of its variations, this modest but elegant quiche again represents the great influence of French cuisine (in this case that of the Lorraine region of Northern France) on the food of the Black Forest.

Be sure to choose a good-quality ham here. I suggest Black Forest ham, but any cooked or smoked ham will do. You could even use bacon or sausage for that matter. Whatever meat you choose, just be sure it is not too dry, or it will become quite tough when baked in the quiche.

Makes on 9-inch quiche

Ingredients:

Crust:

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
1 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
4 tablespoons vegetable shortening, chilled
4 to 5 tablespoons ice water

Filling:

6 extra large eggs
2 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup grated Gruyère cheese
1 cup finely chopped Black Forest ham

Preparation:

To make the crust, stir together the flour and salt in a medium bowl. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut in the butter and shortening until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle the water, 1 tablespoon at a time, over the flour and toss together with a fork until the dough starts to come together. It will be a little stick or tacky. Form the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and coat a 9-inch tart pan (with removable bottom) with vegetable spray.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the chilled dough into a circle about 10 inches in diameter and about 1/4 inch thick. Beginning at one edge of the dough, roll the dough around the rolling pin and unroll it carefully over the tart pan. Ease the dough into the pan, gently pressing it into and against the sides, being careful not to stretch it. Remove any excess dough from the rim of the tart pan. Carefully line the dough with heavy-duty aluminum foil, fill with dried beans or pie weights and bake for about 15 minutes, or until very light golden. Remove the crust from the oven, carefully lift out the foil and weights and set aside on a rack to cool. Reduce the oven to 375 degrees F.

To make the filling, whisk together the eggs, heavy cream, nutmeg, chives, salt and pepper in a medium bowl.

To assemble the quiche, spread the Gruyère cheese and ham evenly over the bottom of the cooled crust and pour the egg filling overtop. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove the quiche from the oven, place on a rack to set for about 5 minutes and serve.

About the following recipe - Black Forest Cake:

Little need be said about this cake, for it is know around the world and served in every café in the Black Forest. In fact, virtually eighty percent of the region's café sales come from Black Forest Cake alone! The popularity of this cake is hardly a mystery. It has come to practically symbolize the Black Forest because it epitomizes some of the most delicious and abundant ingredients found there.

Lest the ubiquitousness of this dessert has dampened your interest in it, I urge you to try this recipe. I'm certain you will come to understand why it is beloved by so many, and you will join them in their passion for the confection.

Germans appreciate good-quality dark chocolate and this is especially so in the Black Forest, where it is used widely in cakes and confections alike. The region's cream is also particularly delicious, as cows feed on a variety of grasses and wild-flowers and produce rich, flavorful milk. As for the cherries, sour cherries (sauerkirschen) grow wild throughout the Black Forest and are also widely farmed. So abundant are they, in fact, that it is quite common for people to sell the wild cherries they pick directly to restaurants and cafés for a bit of extra money. Sour cherries are undoubtedly best for this cake, but, as they are difficult to find in the United States, I recommend using sweet cherries. Like the cherries, Kirschwasser, or cherry brandy, is essential to the Black Forest Cake. The production of this and other potent eaux de vie originally began as a way of making use of the region's fertile orchards. If you wish to prepare an alcohol-free version of the cake, you can certainly substitute simple syrup (sugar water) or cherry juice, although the cake truly benefits from the emphatic cherry punch that the kirsch lends to it.

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Black Forest Cake
Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte

Makes one 9-inch cake

Ingredients:

Cherry Filling:

4 cups pitted sweet cherries
1 1/2 cups Kirschwasser (cherry brandy/Schnapps)
1 cinnamon stick
1 vanilla bean
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon cold water

Chocolate Sponge Cake:

3/4 cup cake flour
4 tablespoons cornstarch
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
8 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
zest of 1 lemon
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Cherry Cream:

1/4 cup Kirschwasser
1 quart heavy cream
1 (1/4-ounce) packet granulated gelatin
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

Assembly:

about 3/4 cup Kirschwasser
1 cup heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks with 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
semisweet chocolate curls, as needed (see Chef's note)

Preparation:

To make the cherry filling, begin at least one day before assembling and serving the cake. Stir together the cherries and Kirschwasser in a medium bowl. Add the cinnamon stick and vanilla bean, cover and set aside at room temperature or in the refrigerator to macerate for 24 hours.

The next day, strain the macerating liquid into a small saucepan and reserve the cherries. Bring the liquid to a boil over medium heat, reduce the heat to medium low and maintain at a simmer. Stir together the cornstarch and water in a small bowl and drizzle into the simmering liquid, stirring constantly until thickened. Remove the cherry filling from the heat and set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and butter and flour two 8-inch cake pans.

To make the cake, sift together the flour, cornstarch and cocoa powder three times into a large bowl and set aside momentarily.

Whisk together the eggs, sugar, vanilla and lemon zest in a large bowl until just combined. Prepare a double boiler and maintain at a simmer. Pour the egg mixture into the top of the double boiler and heat to 200 degrees F, or until warm to the touch, whisking constantly. Transfer the whipped eggs to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whip on medium-high speed until light yellow in color and tripled in volume.

Using a spatula, gently and gradually fold the sifted flour into the whipped eggs. When nearly all of the flour has been incorporated into the eggs, fold in the melted butter, adding it in a slow, steady stream. Do not over mix the batter or the cakes will be too firm and dense.

Divide the cake batter between the two prepared pans and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out clean.

To make the cherry cream, pour the Kirschwasser and 1/4 cup of the cream into a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin overtop and set aside until the gelatin is soaked (bloomed), about 3 minutes. Melt the bloomed gelatin by setting the bowl in a larger bowl of warm water and stirring until the gelatin is melted and dissolved. Add the melted gelatin to the warm milk mixture, stirring to incorporate completely.

Pour the remaining 3 3/4 cups of cream into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and begin whipping on medium speed. Gradually incorporate the confectioners' sugar and continue whipping to form soft peaks. Add the gelatin, raise the mixing speed to high and continue whipping to stiff peaks. (Watch the cream carefully, as over whipping will turn it to butter very quickly.)

To assemble the cake, slice each cake round horizontally into thirds. Set one of the rounds on a cake plate, drizzle with Kirschwasser and spread a thin layer of cherry cream over the surface. Spread a heaping tablespoon of thickened cherry filling over the cream, spreading it thinly and arrange some macerated cherries on top. Continue assembling the cake in this manner, leaving the top layer plain. Frost the cake with whipped cream, being especially generous on the top. Carefully press chocolate curls into the sides of the cake. Fit a pastry bag with a star tip if desired, fill with some of the whipped cream and pipe rosettes around the edges of the cake. Decorate with cherries and chocolate shavings. Refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours before serving.

Chef's Note: To make successful chocolate curls, bring a block of chocolate to room temperature and, using a vegetable peeler, slowly move the peeler across one of the flat sides of the chocolate. Keep the curls in the refrigerator so they remain firm until you are ready to use them.

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