Black Forest Cake:Where to find Cherry Liquor(SchwarzwaelderKirschwasser)alternative?

[nicedwar]

I'm on a mission to bake a Black Forest cake. My current recipe:

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PASTRY:
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (butter-) milk
1/2 cup shortening
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup Schwarzwaelder Kirschwasser (I used home-made cherry liquor)
FILLING:
1 cup sugar powder
1 pinch salt
1 can (0.5 liter) pitted cherries, drained
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon kirschwasser
TOPPING
1 square semisweet chocolate, or remaining crumbs


Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line the bottoms of two 8 inch round pans with parchment paper circles (since I didn't have such paper, I just greased the pans). Sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda and 1 teaspoon salt. Set aside.
Cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and beat well. Add vanilla. Add flour mixture, alternating with milk, beat until combined.
Pour into 2 round 8 inch pans. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool completely. Remove paper (if any) from under the cakes. Cut each layer in half, horizontally, making 4 layers total (as you can see from my picture, I chose not to cut the layers because they looked too fragile to cut them). Sprinkle layers with 1/2 cup Kirschwasser.
In a separate bowl, whip the cream to stiff peaks. Beat in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 1 tablespoon Kirschwasser. Add sugar powder, and a pinch of salt. Beat again. Spread first layer of cake with 1/3 of the filling (use 1/2 of the filling if you have only 2 layers instead of 4). Top with 1/3 (2/3) of the cherries. Repeat with the remaining layer(s).
Frost top and sides of cake. Sprinkle with chocolate curls made by using a potato peeler on semisweet baking chocolate. Or you can use the remaining crumbs to sprinkle the sides of the cake.
Now, get your cup of tea or coffee, and Guten Appetit!


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calls for black forest cherry liquor, or Schwarzwaelder Kirschwasser in German (it's a German cake). Am I going to find something like this at a standard market?
I'm in Arizona, so I've got regular supermarkets, and some alternatives like Sunflower market (health food style). Liquor store?

I could just go with some brandy and cherries I suppose... cherry juice...

Help appreciated.

[felixe the dog]

It's...............................just Kirsch, available anywhere!!

[nicedwar]

Oh... it's distilled from cherries... wikipedia's bounty never ends...

[foodpump]

I'd doubt if it's "available everywhere". Most eau de vie's, Kirsch, plum, mirabelle, and pear are quite hard to find in N. America, and good ones even harder. Kirsch is a fruit brandy, as others have said, destilled from "low wine" of fermented cherries. It is clear, about 40% alc. volume (I guess that would be 80% in the US) with a very clear, strong taste.

A well stocked liquor store might have Cherry Heering, or one of the cherry fruit liqueors, but these are deathly sweet and have a cough-syrup like flavour of cherry--no comparison at all to Kirsch. Bakery Supply houses might have it, or European import places. If you can't find it, stick with something neutral, like Vodka, and cut it with fresh cherry juice.

[Pastry Maven]

If you have a Bev-Mo or other well-stocked Liquor store near by, they would have it...that's where I found my bottle. It's rather expensive, but a little goes a long way.

Cheers,

Micki

[m brown]

You can't find it?
Use Brandy. Plain Brandy, Cognac, Rye or Whisky and combine with a bit of the cherry jucie. Wash the cake and you have a nice Black Forest Cake.

[Free Rider]

Nicedwar, if you're in the East Valley, I suggest a call to Tops Liquors in Tempe. They have been very helpful to me in finding odd liqueurs, wines and such.