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Black Forest Cake

Germany has long been known for its love of and quality of its chocolate, and the Black Forest area in the south is known for the quality of its pastries, and especially for its sour cherries and Kirsch made from those cherries. Kirsch or Kirschwasser is a double distilled, clear cherry brandy made from the small, sour Morello cherry which has a dark red skin. They leave the pits in the cherries when preparing the 'mash' for distilling and some of them are crushed, which gives a sort of bitter almond flavor to Kirsch.

Black Forest Cake - Schwarzwälder Kirsch torte (chocolate layer cake with Kirsch, whipped cream, sour cherries and chocolate curls) - originated in Swabia in the Black Forest Region. When and by whom I have never seen any references. But it was most likely soon after chocolate arrived in the late 16th century. Austria, Spain and France were the countries who drank the most hot chocolate then (its original use) and chocolate and cherries just naturally go together.

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