March 28th recognizes a food holiday known as National Black Forest Cake Day. Black Forest cake is the English name for the German dessert Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte, meaning “Black Forest cherry torte.”
- The cake is named after the specialty liquor (Schwarzwalder Kirschwasser) of the region of the Black Forest (Schwarzwald) mountain range in southwestern Germany.
- The region grows a variety of tart cherries that lend the spirit its unique flavor, and in turn, provide a notable and local flavor to the Black Forest Cherry-Torte.
- The black forest cake was first made by Josef Keller in 1915. He was a pastry chef in a café named Ahrend in Bad Godesberg. He called it “SchwarzwälderKirsch” which means “Black Forest Cherry”.
- he black forest cake originally comes from Germany. It was initially called Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, which means BlackForest Cherry Torte or Gateau in German.
- As the cake was discovered in Germany, the land of the black forest, it got the name the black forest cake. Also, because the cake resembled the black forest costume that the local women wore.
- Typically, Black Forest cake consists of several layers of chocolate cake with whipped cream and cherries between each layer.
- In some European traditions sour cherries are used both between the layers and for decorating the top.
- Traditionally, Kirschwasser (a clear liquor distilled from tart cherries) is added to the cake, although other liquors are also used.
- The cake is named not directly after the Black Forest (Schwarzwald) mountain range in southwestern Germany. The forests in “Hansel and Gretel”, “Snow White”, and “Rapunzel” are based on the Black Forest.
- The record for the world’s largest authentic black forest cake, weighing 3000 kg, was set at Europa Park, Germany on 16 July 2006, by K&D Bakery.
- Today, the black forest cake is among the top ten cakes that is famous and loved all around the world.
- The earliest published written record of Black Forest cake was in 1934, by John Martin Erich Weber, a German confectioner, in his book ‘250 Konditorei-Spezialitäten und wie sie entstehen’, translated in English literally as ‘250 pastry specialties and how they originate’.
- Today, Black Forest cake is well known worldwide and one of the most popular cakes in Germany, though it was only listed as the thirteenth most famous German cake in 1949.
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