Black Forest Cake

Cherries:
Soak cherries in 1 cup of kirschwasser for up to 2 days.

Cake:
Preheat oven to 350℉. Grease two 9″ pans. Sift flour, salt, baking soda into a mixing bowl. Set aside. Stir margarine, oil, water, and cocoa together in a saucepan. Heat on low until melted. Set aside.

Mix buttermilk, eggs, and applesauce together in a bowl; add sugar and stir. Add sifted ingredients to the egg mixture. Beat until all lumps are gone. Using a spatula, slowly stir cocoa mixture into egg/flour mixture. Pour batter into pans. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

After cake has cooled for 5 minutes in the pans, remove from pans and allow cakes to cool completely. Use a piece of sewing thread to cut the cakes in half, making 4 layers of cake.

Chocolate Frosting:
In a mixing bowl, cream butter until light and fluffy. Blend cocoa into butter. Add powdered sugar a little at a time, beating after each addition. Add milk and vanilla; beat until smooth. Set aside.

Filling:
Cream butter until light and fluffy. Add powdered sugar, salt, and coffee; beat until smooth. Add milk as needed if consistency is too thick. Store in the refrigerator.

Whipped Topping:
Whip cream to stiff peaks. Beat in vanilla and kirschwasser. Add more kirschwasser if you would like. =) Store in the refrigerator.

Assembly:
Place one cake layer on a cake plate. Using a pastry brush, brush the cake with kirschwasser. (Brush on as much as you desire). Spread 1/3 of filling, then place 1/3 of cherries on top of filling. Repeat with remaining cake layers. After the fourth cake layer, frost sides of the cake with chocolate frosting. (This layer is called the crumb coat. Only lightly frost the cake.) Then cool the cake again until the frosting has hardened. Once cool, spread the whipped topping on top of the fourth cake layer. Then spread the remaining chocolate frosting on the sides of the cake. Flourish cake with cherries or chocolate shavings.