Black Forest Cake -

Black Forest Cake

Featuring layers of chocolate cake filled with cherries and fresh whipped cream, the Black Forest Cake is a classic (and delicious) dessert!

Prep Time35

Cook Time35

Total Time1 10

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: German

Keyword: black forest, cake, cherry, chocolate

Servings: servings

Calories: 466kcal

Author: David

Ingredients

For the Cake

2 cups + 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1½ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp baking soda
¾ tsp salt
3 large eggs
1 cup milk
½ cup vegetable oil
1 Tbsp vanilla extract

For the Cherries and Whipped Cream

2 20-oz. cans pitted sour cherries (see note)
1 Tbsp kirschwasser see note
1 cup granulated sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups heavy whipping cream
⅓ cup powdered sugar

For Garnish

chocolate bar
maraschino cherries

Instructions

For the Cake

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Grease and flour (2) 9” round cake pans. Line bottoms of pans with parchment paper and set pans aside.
Using a large bowl, add the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt; stir until well combined.
In a separate bowl, add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla extract; stir until well combined.
Pour the liquid mixture into the dry mixture and stir until just combined.
Divide batter evenly into the 2 prepared cake pans.
Bake for 32-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. Let cakes cool for 10 minutes before turning out of pans. Place cakes on cooling rack until completely cool.

For the Cherries and Whipped Cream

Drain cherries, reserving ½ cup of liquid.
Using a 2-quart saucepan, combine cherries, ½ cup of liquid, kirschwasser, sugar and cornstarch. Stir until well combined and place over medium-low heat. Cook, stirring often, for 10-12 minutes, or until sauce has thickened noticeably into a gel-like consistency. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract. Set sauce aside to cool completely before using.
Meanwhile, using an electric mixer, whip the whipping cream and powdered sugar together until stiff peaks form. Remove 1½ cups of whipped cream and set aside for decorating cake.
Using a long knife, slice each layer of cake horizontally into 2 layers. (This will produce a total of 4 thin layers of cake.)
Using a medium bowl, crumble one of the four layers apart into crumbs; set aside.
Place one layer of cake on a large platter. Spread 1½ cups of cherry filling on top, then spread 1 cup of whipped cream on top. Repeat process with the second layer of cake, using ½ cup of filling and another 1 cup of whipped cream. Finally, place third layer of cake on top.
Frost top and sides of the cake with the remaining whipped cream. (Note: Do not use the reserved whipped cream from above yet.) Pat reserved crumbs into the sides of the cake.
Using a piping bag fitted with a large star tip, garnish the top of the cake using the reserved whipped cream from above.
Using a sharp knife or vegetable peeler, grate chocolate into curls and shards on top of the cake. Garnish with maraschino cherries.

Notes

Recipe from Hofgut Sternen: the Black Forest Village.

I couldn’t find canned sour cherries (only cherry pie filling which is not the same), so I used a 24-oz. bag of frozen cherries (thawed).

Kirschwasser (also called kirsch) is a fruit brandy made from fermented cherries. It was originally created in the Black Forest region of Germany, and it is a key component of a traditional Black Forest Cake.

I recommend only using half of the cherry filling in the cake. Using all of the cherry filling will make the cake difficult to slice. I also recommend using most of the cherry filling on top of the bottom layer of cake. The weight of the filling on the upper layers of cake will make this cake difficult to slice. (This was a tip shared directly from the baker that we talked to at Hofgut Sternen.) Use the extra filling as a topping for ice cream…or just eat it plain!

In order to prevent the whipped cream from melting, ensure that both the cake and the cherry filling are totally cool. I actually placed mine in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to make sure the cake and filling were cold.

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