Blossoming Cherries

A brutally honest and light-hearted review of Wood’s Black Forest cake.

Black Forest cake has always scared me.

It's not just the name (as terrifying as it is, conjuring up images of headless ghouls rising from battered bodies), it's the addition of those disturbing fruits: cherries.

Cherries are essentially just lumps of red, sour goo, squishing about in chewy skin. They work in cakes about as well as uranium works in humans.

But, because I'm a bold guy - no challenge too big or monster too daunting - I decided to tackle the rose-tinted wonders of a Black Forest cake from Wood's - a bakery firm in North Staffordshire.

With white icing zig-zagged across the top of one thick slice of chocolate sponge and deep cream sandwiched in between a second sponge layer, one thing that wasn't in dispute - for £1.20 a time - was value for money.

Unlike the mass-produced supermarket rip-offs, the sponge of the cake was both gracefully soft and confidently tasting of chocolate. The cream was equally light and fluffy, copiously bursting through the sides of the treat like an exploding whale.

Ironically, arguably the best part was actually the cherries. They came in the form of a thin drip of sauce draped underneath the wallowing cream - appearing almost drowned out, but providing an exquisitely essential taste that sweetened up the whole deal without over exaggerating.

All things considered, buying the Black Forest cake was probably the best decision I’ve ever made. In fact, forget that; it is the best decision I’ve ever made. It was truly faultless: created to perfection with an ample use of quality ingredients.

I can’t wait to consume ten a day.

Final review rating: mercifully cherry-less on top – 5* out of 5.

Review by JAMES LEWIS

Wanderer, wonderer and editor of the Chocolate Dissection blog (which will ideally melt hearts rather than brains). Reliable with sarcasm, less so with a scalpel. Twitter: @IdeasJimbound


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