Black Forest cake(Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte)(Eggless and Alcohol Free)

It is like a dream come true moment for me.I still could not believe I made this cake with a decent success,I keep seeing the pictures and framing sentences to draft a post on this.I made an egg less and alcohol free version of this ever popular pastry hailing for Germany,yes I am talking about that wonderful black forest cake,a crowd pleaser :). By far this cake or pastry is my favorite and I never miss a chance to have it.There is a small bakery in our neighborhood and the best egg less black forest cake I have eaten so far comes from there. The other day when I purchased this cake I was determined to try this at home and found a recipe for chocolate cake in a old hand written notes.All this happened some 3 months ago and I was not dare enough to try the recipe,but last week I tried on a special occasion and well read the first line again .I am pretty sure there is no need to describe this cake here yet to give a complete look to this post, black forest cake ,a very famous cake from Germany,is a layered chocolate cake soaked in kirsch liqueor with whipped cream,cherries in between the layers finally decorated with more cream and chocolate shavings.However the ones available in local bakeries and pastry shops use tinned cherry syrup or sugar syrup instead of liqueur and this makes the cake child friendly too :). Here I have tried to replicate the cake to the best of my skill but I know long way to go.I wanted to make 3 layers but I ended up making two layers as my cake was not tall enough.
Egg less black forest cake recipeStar ingredients:Chocolate sponge cake,whipped cream,cherries
Time:1 1/2 hours+cooling time
Yield:1 9"inch square cake
I have broken the procedure into components.
Egg less chocolate cake
Ingredients:
135 grams all purpose flour
220 ml plain soda water 
130 grams butter molten
4 tablespoons cocoa powder
4 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons milk
Method:
1.Preheat oven at 160C and prepare a 9'inch baking tin by greasing and dusting.
2.Take condensed milk,molten butter,sugar(if using) in a bowl and beat together.The mix should be really light and creamy.
3.Next sift all the dry ingredients together and keep ready.
4.Add the dry ingredients to the condensed milk+butter mixture and add soda water to it.Whisk until the ingredients are well combined.Do not over beat the mix.If you feel the batter is very stiff add 2 tablespoons milk and whisk well.
5.Pour the batter in the prepared tin and bake for 30-35 minutes at 160C.
6.Invert the cake after 15 minutes,allow to cool thoroughly and cut the cake into two horizontally.
Cherry syrup:
The actual recipe says to use simple sugar syrup but I just added 2 teaspoons cherry extract as I had it in hand ,it is purely optional though.
Mix 1/2 cup sugar with 1/2 cup water and dissolve well.Heat in a sauce pan until the mixture turns into a thick syrup.Add the cherry extract and mix well.Allow to cool at room temperature.
Other ingredients:
340 ml fresh cream(I used 35% fat)
4 tablespoons icing sugar
1 teaspoon corn starch
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
1 cup pitted chopped fresh or glazed cherries
1 cup grated chocolate(I used cadbury's black forest,you can use any good quality chocolate)
Chocolate strands,silver beads etc for decorating
Assembling and decorating the cake:
1.Take the fresh cream,icing sugar,vanilla and corn starch in a dry cold bowl and whip till soft peaks are formed.I whipped it manually,you can use kitchen aid if you have). Refrigerate until ready to use.
2.Grate the chocolate and refrigerate till use.
3.Chop the cherries and keep aside
4.Take one layer of cake and place on a plate.Pour half the amount of sugar syrup on it well covering all the sides.Now spread a good amount of whipped cream on it and flatten with a spatula.Next slather some cherry pieces and grated chocolate gratings.
5.Keep the next layer of the cake,add the remaining cherry syrup and spread some more whipped cream.Cover the sides of the cake with remaining whipped cream.Decorate the top of the cake as required.
6.Allow the cake to set in the refrigerator until the time of serving.
Notes:
1. I think I should have whipped the cream more stiff.Will do that next time.
2.If you are having trouble in cutting the cake into layers you can bake 2 or 3 thin cakes and assemble into one.