Origin in Germany
The cake that crosses borders – why the Black Forest cake is famous all over the world
The cake that everyone loves: Black Forest Gateau
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In Germany, the Black Forest gateau is considered old-fashioned, but in the rest of the world it is celebrated. The triumph of a cake with cream, chocolate and cherries.
The Black Forest Cake is loved by foodies all over the world: from Chile to Pakistan to Fiji – and is often even claimed by countries as a national speciality. But very few people know that the famous cake comes from Germany.
It is thanks to the younger generation that the Black Forest gateau has been dusted off. It suddenly appeared all over social media thanks to a wave of nostalgia for the 90s. Today, the cake belongs to no one and yet to everyone. It is the Danish butter cookie of the dessert world – a European cultural asset that transcends borders.
Traditionally, chocolate sponge cake is soaked in kirsch and refined with fluffy whipped cream and cherries. But the further the cake travels from its origins, the more it is modified to suit the tastes of people from other countries: in Muslim countries, for example, alcohol is often omitted. In recipes in Singapore, the cherry even disappears and is replaced by blueberries.
Black Forest cake? Old fashioned!
In Germany, the cake is considered old-fashioned. And it is not yet entirely clear where it really comes from. Some say it is the Black Forest region, others claim it is Berlin. And then there is Tübingen city archivist Udo Rauch, who locates the origin of today’s most famous cake in Germany with a pastry chef in a Tübingen café. Among other things, he cites a hand-dated photo from 1936 that shows the pastry chef making a Black Forest gateau. Regardless of its origins, it has gained a wide following, even though Germany is not particularly known for having a culinary influence in the world.
The fact that the Black Forest cake became famous around the world is thanks to German emigrants. Missionaries, chefs in upscale hotels, people who fled the Nazis. They all spread the recipe wherever they lived or traveled.
Today, many pastry chefs are reinterpreting the nostalgic cake: for example, it is served as a Swiss roll in a restaurant in Newton, Massachusetts, and offered in a glass in a newly opened Indian-inspired bakery in Chicago. The Black Forest cake may no longer be contemporary, but it is a good piece of nostalgia.