Black Forest Cake

Amaze your guests with this scrumptious Black Forest Cake this Holiday Season -

• Ready In: 35 mins
• Serves: 16

Ingredients

• 2  cups cake-and-pastry flour
• 2  teaspoons baking soda
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 cup butter, softened
• 2 1⁄2 cups brown sugar
• 3  eggs
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3  unsweetened chocolate squares, melted and cooled
• 1  cup sour cream
• 1  cup boiling water
• 2  cups  whipping cream
• 1⁄2 cup icing sugar
• 1  cup  smucker's pure  cherry jam, stirred
•  chocolate shavings
•  maraschino cherry

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F Grease 2 x 9-inch round cake pans.
2. Combine flour, baking soda and salt.
3. Beat butter in a large bowl. Add brown sugar and eggs, beating until light and creamy. Beat in vanilla and chocolate.
4. Add dry ingredients to chocolate mixture, alternately with sour cream, beating on low speed just until batter is smooth.
5. Carefully stir in boiling water. Batter will be thin.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool on wire racks for 10 minutes; then remove from pans and cool completely.
7. Beat whipping cream and incing sugar in large bowl of electric mixer until thick.
8. To Assemble Cake: Place on layer on serving plate, and spread with 1/2 of the whipped cream. Put 1/2 cup jam over whipped cream, leaving a 1/2-inch border away from the edge of the cake.
9. Cover with remaining layer and top with whipped cream, leaving some for decoration, if desired. Top with remaining jam and garnish with chocolate curls.
10. For an authentic look, using a piping bag, pipe whipped cream flowers around top edge of cake and place maraschino cherries in each flower.
11. Do not put whipped cream on sides of cake.