Why is Black Forest cake called Black Forest Gateau in Britain, when it is German, not French?!
Answers:
I am a former chef from Canada, and I have many UK chef mates, and when I visit I muck in on occasion, it is more because over the years the Brits have adopted the french terms, when they imported the french chefs after the Napoleonic war and they built all the posh hotels, even Escoffier worked in the UK for years, like Creme Fraiche, Fromage Frais, Gateau, Baguette, Croissant and other french words used universally it is just some thing they start back around the turn of the 20th century, and it also sound more high brow and snotty, cake is the commoner food, a gateau is for the rich and upper crust.
A very simple explanation (in addition to the other good ones listed already) is that it is a literal translation of the German which is: Schwartzw?lderkirschtorte. Schwartz=black; w?lder=forest; kirsch=cherry; torte=cake with cream.
Need an easy recipe? There's one at the website listed below.
http://www.quick-german-recipes.com/germ…
Most gateaux recipes aren't French, although the word is, a gateaux is a cake with cream and fruit layers (like a Black forest cake).
Plus until recently there was a bit of snobbery in British cooking that anything French sounding was going to be better.
