Black Forest Cake

Position a rack in the middle of the oven, and preheat to 325˚. Butter two 9-inch round cake pans. Line the bottom with circles of parchment paper cut to fit. Butter the paper and dust the pans with cocoa powder.

To make the cake, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt together. Set aside. In a bowl, combine the egg yolks and 1 cup of the sugar. Beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and almond extracts. In a separate large bowl, combine the egg whites and cream of tartar. Beat on medium speed until the whites thicken. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat just until soft peaks form. Slowly add the remaining ¾ cup sugar and continue to beat until stiff, glossy peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold one-third of the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture until almost incorporated. Fold in one-half of the dry ingredients. Fold in another third of the whites, followed by the remaining dry ingredients. Finally, fold in the remaining whites until the batter is smooth.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans, dividing it evenly. Bake the cake layers until a toothpick inserted into the center of a layer comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Immediately run a small, thin knife around the inside of each pan to loosen the cake, pressing the knife against the pan. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 10 minutes. Place a wire rack on top of a cake and invert them together. Lift off the pan and peel off the parchment. Turn the cake back over onto another rack and repeat with the remaining layer. Let cool completely.

To make the filling, in a saucepan over medium heat, combine the cherries, sugar, and water and heat until the sugar dissolves. If using frozen cherries, in place of water use the liquid that has formed during defrosting and add enough water to make ½ cup of liquid. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and drain, reserving the syrup. Stir the kirsch into the syrup.

Mix all ingredients until fluffy.

To assemble the cake, cut each layer in half horizontally, for a total of 4 layers. Coat one layer heavily with the cherry syrup. Using a rubber spatula, spread about 1 ¼ cups of the whipped cream over the cake. Arrange one-third of the reserved cherry pieces in an even layer over the whipped cream, pressing them into the whipped cream to level the filling. Repeat the process with 2 more cake layers. Place the remaining layer on top and brush the top and sides with the syrup. Spread the remaining whipped cream over the top and sides. Spoon the chocolate shavings over the top and serve.