Black Forest Cake

Total Time: 1 hr 15 mins Preparation Time: 40 mins Cook Time: 35 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 12
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup honey
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon vinegar
• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or unbleached flour)
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 orange slices (or lemon and cut thin)
• 1/3 cup kirsch (or other cherry liquor or light golden rum)
• 3/4 cup raw cashews
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup honey
• 10 ounces firm tofu
• 3 ounces semisweet chocolate (melted)
• 16 ounces pitted cherries (from a jar or frozen, drained...not maraschino)

Recipe

• 1 for the cake:.
• 2 preheat oven to 350'f. combine the liquid ingredients in a large bowl and whisk well.
• 3 sift together the dry ingredients and whisk into the liquid ingredients. pour into a 9 in greased and floured cake pan and bake for about 35 minutes. it should be springy to the touch.
• 4 cool completely (i left mine over night) and remove from pan. cut into 3 thin horizontal layers.
• 5 for the syrup:.
• 6 combine the water, honey and citrus slices in a small pan and oil for 3 minutes. let cool, then add the kirsch or rum.
• 7 set aside.
• 8 for the icing:.
• 9 in a blender (like a vita mix) combine the cashews, water and vanilla. blend well until smooth and creamy.
• 10 add the honey and tofu and blend again. remove 2 cups of this mixture and set aside for the vanilla icing that will go on the top and sides of the cake.
• 11 to the mixture left in the blender add the 3 ounces of melted chocolate. i used a 72% dark chocolate bar and melted the chocolate in the microwave.
• 12 blend it well and chill both of the icings before using. i put them in the fridge overnight.
• 13 to assemble the cake:.
• 14 carefully remove the cake from its tin and with a gentle hand slice into 3 layers. brush some syrup onto the bottom layer and spread half the chocolate icing on top of it.
• 15 place the middle cake layer on top of the bottom layer and brush it with more syrup and the rest of the chocolate icing. put down a layer of cherries and dot with the vanilla icing to act as a glue. put the top layer on.
• 16 brush it with the cherry syrup. frost with the remaining cashew icing and decorate with the rest of the cherries.
• 17 chill for several hours before serving. the cake may be kept covered if your not serving it until the following day. after 3 days the icing may discolor.
• 18 bon appetit!