DOG-SHAPED CHOCOLATE CAKE

This was for my sister-in-law's birthday. The cake itself is a Black Forest cake, or Black Forest gateau, as Delia Smith likes to call it. As gateau is just a French word for a layer cake, I'll call this a cake. The recipe is from Delia's book Delia's Complete Cookery Course. Anyway, Black Forest, or Schwarzwald is in Germany. Why the French then?

Black Forest cake is a very traditional cherry cake, and something I wanted to try but you can use any recipe you like because this post is just about creating the dog-shape.


Delia's Black Forest gateau:

6 large eggs
150 caster sugar (Non-British readers: that just a type of sugar that's slightly finer than usual)
50g cocoa powder

Filling and topping:
300ml double cream (I'd say you need 400ml)
sugar
450g tin or jar Morello cherries
(I also used raspberry jam for the semi-circle)
1-2 tblsp Kirsch or rum
(50g plain chocolate to decorate - didn't use any because I wanted the dog to remain perfectly white.)

Use a 20cm deep cake tin. Separate the egg whites from the yolks, do not discard anything. Whisk the yolks with the sugar until they just begin to pale and thicken, which will not take long. Fold in the sifted cocoa powder. Beat the egg whites on their own until white. Stir a little bit of the egg white into the chocolate mix to loosen it up and fold in the rest of the egg white. Bake in 180°C until done but not dry.

The cake should be very moist so I used the liquid from the cherries to dampen the cake when I filled it.

What I used to paint the mouth, eye and ear is a mixture of honey and cocoa powder.


When the cake has cooled down, cut it as demonstrated below.



Thinnen the head and legs of the dog. Leave the semi-circle thick. Adjust any bits if they look wonky.




Cut the cake into layers and fill it.



Then it's time for the cream. I forgot to save some to make a tail.




Paint on the eyes, etc, just before serving if you're using honey-cocoa mixture because it will bleed a little.