European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 12, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse Living today very Cherry Black Forest creation takes the cake by Sharon Hudgins special o stripes Magazine like Many Middle class american children of european descent i grew up thinking that birthdays were always celebrated with a cake. For the first two decades of my life it never really occurred to me that the anniversary of one s birth might be honoured in any other Way. Year in year out my Mother hiked birthday cakes for every member of our immediate family including herself and often fur close friends to whom she would give a Home baked cake As a gift. I remember some of my earlier birthdays celebrated with a White or yellow two layer cake or a single layer Angel food one enveloped in Fluffy pastel icing sometimes with simple icing decorations in a contrasting color. Nothing fancy but the taste was delicious. Once when i was very Young a Friend made a special layer cake As a gift for my april birthday. It was covered with Pale Green icing and topped with a Bird s nest fashioned out of shredded Coconut tinted dark Green. The nest was filled with Candy cues " and the base of the cake was decorated with More Green Coconut in which were hidden pastel Jelly Beans. Unfortunately because i m allergic to Coconut i could Only Admire the Beauty of the cake while All the other children at my party devoured it. One summer in Paris several years later i discovered that a French Friend s birthday was the following week but that he had no plans to celebrate it. So his Girlfriend and i decided to Surprise him with a dinner at Home for a few close friends. I volunteered to bring the cake. Since my apartment Kitchen lacked an oven and the one in Friend s apartment burned anything that came near it i planned to Purchase a fancy cake at a patisserie instead of making one myself. It seemed a reasonable solution at the time. I soon realized that it was impossible to find anything resembling an american Type birthday cake so i settled on a rather masculine looking single layer Caramel cake covered with an attractive Caramel Glaze and decorated with a few chocolate icing swirls on top. Finding birthday candles was much More difficult but eventually i managed to located some. There weren t enough in number to equal my Friend s years on Earth and Pink was the Only color available but i bought them anyway. Tracking Down birthday candles in Paris had been a major accomplishment. The dinner party was very successful but the biggest Surprise in More than one Way was the cake. Following the american custom i had tried to stick the candles into the top of the cake but the hard Caramel Glaze resisted being violated in such a Barbaric manner. After breaking two candles and cracking the Glaze in several places i figured the Only Way to stick candles into that cake was by first punching holes in the top of it with an icepick. By the time i finished setting up the candles the top of the cake looked like a Battlefield with All of the Patis sier s decorations destroyed. Never mind. I lighted the candles and carried the cake into the dining room surprising everyone present. They 4 stripes Magazine september 12,1s85 had never before seen a cake quite like that one nor had i or that matter. But the Friend whose birthday we were celebrating was the most surprised of All. It was the first time in his 28 years that anyone had Given him a birthday cake. He did t even know that you Are supposed to blow out the candles while making a wish. On another occasion i made a very tall birthday cake in a tube pan for a favorite professor in graduate school. When the cake came out of the pan it looked too pretty to hide under a thick layer of icing so i merely sifted confectioner sugar Over the top for decoration and added the Correct number of candles. When the professor arrived at our seminar that afternoon the cake was already sitting on the conference table candles blazing. Delighted with Surprise the professor quickly blew out the candles an act which also covered his hair face and jacket with All of the powdered sugar i had sifted onto the cake. After that i always claimed i had Learned More than comparative politics in his class. A Good Friend recently celebrated her thirtieth birthday and for that traumatic event in her life i decided to bake a very special treat. I wanted to avoid the kind of cake that has become All too popular in America for birthdays office parties and other similar events a Day Overly Sweet cake baked from a mix covered with a so called icing made from confectioners sugar and solid vegetable shortening and festooned with garishly coloured icing decorations dyed with substances that the Fra will someday get around to condemning. My Friend certainly deserved better than that for her transition to Middle age. In searching for recipes for traditional european birthday cakes i Learned that Many europeans celebrate their name Day the feast Day of the Saint after whom they were named instead of their chronological birthdays. I also discovered that the foods and traditions associated with the Celebration of birthdays or name Days vary considerably from country to country. And it soon became apparent that the Standard american birthday cake a White yellow or chocolate layer cake even covered with decorative icing seems rather Plain in comparison with its european counterparts. In England for instance a traditional birthday cake is a Large round single layer Fruitcake full of raisins currants candied fruits almonds and spices covered on top and sometimes also on the sides with a layer of Marzipan and decorated with Marzipan fruits. The scandinavians often celebrate birthdays name Days and other important occasions with a Kran Schake or Kran Sickage a tall Cone shaped confection comprising 26 layers of stacked cookie rings each cookie slightly smaller than the one below it made from a Rich Almond paste dough and decorated with White sugar icing. The dutch Honor someone s birthday with a Banke letter a cake baked in the shape of that person s initial. Both the danish and the russian Krenc Are pretzel shaped cakes made especially for birthdays. The danish one has a Rich fruit and nut filling surrounded by Flaky danish pastry whereas the russian version is made from a yeast raised dough studded with almonds and raisins with a sugar Glaze on top. The hungarian Dobos Torta a sinfully Rich layer cake filled with chocolate buttercream and topped with Caramel often served for special occasions is possibly the Only cake which has been honoured with its own birthday party. Created in Budapest in 1887, by Jozsef c. Dobos the now world famous Dobos Torta celebrated its 75th birthday in 1962. The hungarians a fun Loving people found this occasion to be the per act excuse for a full scale festival. The pastry chefs association baked a giant Dobos Torta six feet in diameter and paraded it through the streets of Budapest and pastry shops throughout the City competed with each other to make the finest version of Hungary s answer of Vienna s Sec Ier Torfe. It s Only two More years until the Dobos Torta Centennial and i m already planning my trip to Budapest for that important event. Not every country or ethnic group has a particular Type of cake that is traditionally baked for birthdays or name Days. In Many places the seasonal ingredients available the whim of the Baker or the personal preference of the honoree determines the kind of cake to be served. And those candles without which an american birthday cake would seem Bare Are not usually or even often a necessary part of european birthday celebrations. If candles Are present there is Seldom a Candle for each year of age and often the few candles used Are set around the cake s serving Platter As decorations. The germans who Are credited with introducing the custom of birthday candles sometimes encircle their cakes with a Large carved or painted wooden Candle ring which holds several candles. After immersing myself in european cake lore i decided that my Friend-approaching-30, who lives in Germany should be Given a very German cake. The germans wisely Don t restrict themselves to one particular or traditional Type of birthday cake. At German birthday celebrations i have been served Light fruit tortes heavy cheesecakes and Rich complicated layer cakes. So i finally chose to bake a Schwarzwald or Kirsch torte Black Forest Cherry cake for my Friend. If you Haven t yet tasted a Good Schwarzwald or Kirsch torte. You be missed out on one of life s Little pleasures. Composed of layers of dark chocolate cake sandwiched together with a Rich Flavoured Cream and Kirsch i soaked cherries and usually decorated with More Cream cherries and chocolate shavings this cake can indeed be heavenly when made correctly. But if the Cook has Cut Corners or skimped a bit or substituted lesser ingredients the results can be disappointing if the Schwarzwald or Kirsch torte at a German Kon Ditori appears to contain Bright red cherries artificially dyed Light chocolate cake layers and stiff unyielding Cream stabilized with Gelatin and cornstarch i la order something else. There Are several recipes for this specially of the Black Forest Region. Some have a thin layer of pastry underneath and some contain a chocolate or Plain buttercream filling. Some have whipped Cream and Cherry decorations Only on top whereas others Are completely covered with whipped Cream and shaved chocolate curls. But any 10 let fir i Chat a Orth its name must be redolent of Kirsch Wassgr k it s called in the Black a
