Where does Black Forest cake come from?
It’s not the Black Forest if that’s what you were thinking you goof. Whatever gave you that dumb idea? The birthplace of Black Forest cake was a small university town called Tübingen, which truth be told is only a stone’s throw from the real Black Forest in the extreme southwestern corner of Germany, right along the border with France and Switzerland. No doubt the forest did influence the thinking of the pastry chef who invented it, a fellow by the name of Erwin Hildebrand. He was the one who first conceived the magnificent combination of chocolate spongecake, sour cherries, whipped cream and kirsch — in 1930.
It was actually nothing terribly new. Residents of the Black Forest area had been eating sour cherries with whipped cream and a splash of their local grog (cherry brandy or kirsch) for decades. Cakes made with cherries were also common, especially in nearby Switzerland where they made their own Black Forest Cake with cherries, nuts, spongecake and whipped cream. Hildebrand, it seems, simply combined the available elements in a somewhat novel way, with heavy emphasis on chocolate spongecake, kirsch, and chocolate shavings.
Why all the chocolate? Some say it was the deep, dark brown-black trunks of Black Forest fir trees inspired him. Others that his black, white and red color scheme imitates the traditional dress of the area: black skirts, white shirts and hats with red pompoms on the tops. I’m wearing that to my next dinner party.
Truly I have no idea whether any of this is true. My guess is a little of all of it all went into Hildebrand’s creative hopper. What is clear, however, is that his cake was it hit. Within two or three years it was being served in cities and towns all over Germany, Switzerland and Austria. The first printed recipe appeared in a professional cookbook in 1934. It would probably have spread around the world in another few years had the Second World War not broken out in 1939. Even with that (monumental) interruption it was being enjoyed everywhere from London to New York to Hong Kong by the late 50’s. Which really shows the power of a good cake, no?
http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/autumn-forest-germany/
This photo from a National Geographic contest from a few years back made me think of the cake, even though it is from another area further north. Some white fog, and there is the cake .
Nice Dani!
That’s a more dramatic version of the Black Forest as I remember it, having driven through it many years ago, but it certainly gets the feels across. Thanks!
– Joe
It appears Tübingen is the most famous and probable origin, but there are other theories as well. AND Tübingen belonged to the Black Forest administrative region until 1924 🙂 Just to add some of the hypothetical name origins for comleteness:
Some theories state the cake or more appropriately ‘torte’ (which is somewhat different to the word cake) looked like Black Forest traditional clothing, with the chocolate sprinkles and red cherries blobs on top (like the dress from that one village in the Black Forest – really, just ONE village has that dress). Another states that it derives from a cake called ‘Schwarzwaldtorte’ which predates the ‘Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte’ and is actually a Swiss cake. Another one states it may be named as it is, because the ‘Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte’ uses ‘Kirsch’ – Cherry Brandy – which was mainly produced in the Black Forest area, hence the name referring to the origin of one of it’s main ingredients. I guess all of them together sound reasonable in some way *lol
Oh – and on that note – Austria is much further East 😉 It’s Switzerland you probably meant…
And that cake is GREAT – read your post about making one – awesome job!!! (I’d not use marashino cherries, use morellos soaked in cherry brandy all over – and don’t go and drive afterwards *lol)
Thanks again, e1iana, especially for the correction. I did read about those competing theories, the Tübingen explanation seemed the least far-fetched, but you never really know. And I appreciate the appreciation! 😉 Let me know how yours turns out!
Cheers,
– Joe