Looking for a delightful treat that’s divine? Check out this Black Forest Cake recipe, it’s truly sublime.
Black Forest cake comes from Germany but has not much to do with the actual Black Forest that can be found in the South-Western part of the country. Except that it is made with a Black Forest region specific cherry brandy called Schwarzwälder Kirschwasser that translates to Black Forest Cherry Water.
This joyful 40% ABV spirit is made out of a kind of sour cherry without pitting the fruit thus giving the finished product a slightly bitter-almond taste apart of the subtle cherry flavor.
Although, this region-specific drink is not widely available nor it is the specific sour cherry, the cake spread around the world sprouting various versions of the original while adhering to the core values of cherry and cream on layered cake.
Skipping on the Kirche stuff will have more profound effect on the flavors of the cake than substituting the sour cherries with regular ones but the cake will still be pretty looking and enjoyable.
Speaking of looks, the cake’s cherry on top cream design is said to be inspired by the traditional Black Forest costumes of the Black Forest region. The accompanying hat of the woman is decorated with coconut sized red plush balls exactly looking like cherries on top.
Cherries are indeed the core element of the cake. It doesn’t matter if the cream frosting is missing or the kind of chocolate it is decorated with as long as it has cherries on top, it can be called Black Forest cake.
This particular recipe tries to stick to the original recipe except by of course skipping on sugar. Instead of white sugar a natural and much smaller amount of honey is added to provide some sweet flavor but nothing excessive or suffocating.
As always, the sweetener is substituitable with any other sweetener of choice and should set to individual tastes and preferences.
There biggest problem with the cake is that it doesn’t keep well nor really enjoyable after a day or two. Due to the cream frosting, it can’t really be warmed up in a microwave oven to soften the pastry up a little bit nor it’s a great idea to freeze it down.
It’s a perfect cake for special occasions when there are plenty of people around the enjoy the occasion and eat up the whole thing at once. Sure, enough there is a possibility to make a smaller cake and eat it up all alone at once but that would appear as a pretty bad status update on anyone’s social profile.
Overall, the black forest cake is a really light and creamy experience with the remote flavors of cherry coming and going through the bites while traveling on airy sponge cake pieces. Splendid cake for splendid occasions be it in a party the be the cake the party.
Ingredients
Base
- 17 tablespoon / 200g Butter (unsalted)
- 3 tablespoons / 60g Honey or sweetener of choice
- 1 teaspoon / 5g Vanilla extract
- 1 ⅔ cup / 200g Flour
- 5 oz / 150g Chocolate (melted)
- 8 medium / 200g Eggs Separated
Filling
- 1 cup / 200g Black cherries jam (Sour cherries if available)
- Kirsch liquer (if available, can be substituted with rum)
- 3 cups / 750g Heavy whipping cream
Topping
- Sour cherries or cherries to decorate with
- Chocolate flakes
Kitchen Equipment
- ؽ” / Ø21cm Baking tray
How to make Black forest cake
Base
- Melt chocolate.
- Separate eggs.
- First beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.
- Next beat butter until soft and fluffy. Put honey and vanilla extract into it as well.
- Beat yolks until fluffy and light yellow so it’s ready to add to the butter.
- Alternate flour, melted chocolate, yolks whilst mixing them with the butter. Incorporate them well then as a final step, fold egg whites to the mixture.
- Pour batter into the spring baking form then place it onto the middle rack of a 350°F / 180°C preheated oven until internal temperature reaches 190°F – 210°F / 88°F – 99°C which should happen in about 30 – 40 minutes. When it’s out of the oven, place it on a cooling rack until it completely cools down. Don’t try to work with it even if it’s only slightly warm as it would ruin the whipped cream’s texture thus the whole cake.
- Cut the cake into 3 equal pieces horizontally.
Filling
- In a bowl mix jam and the liquor.
- In a different bowl beat the whipped cream until hard peaks form. Divide the jam into 3 equal parts then divide the whipped cream into 4 equal parts.
Assembly
- Spread ⅓ of the jam on the bottom part of the cake.
- Spread ¼ of the whipped cream on the bottom of the cake on top of the jam.
- Place the second layer of the cake on top of the 1st layer of whipped cream. Repeat spreading the jam and the whipped cream on the second layer.
- Put the third cake layer on top of the second whipped cream layer. Spread the remaining ⅓ jam on top of the last cake layer and ¼ of whipped cream on top.
- Divide the rest of the whipped cream into two parts and spread one part on the side of the cake.
- Sprinkle chocolate flakes on the side and the top.
- Fill a pastry bag with the remaining whipped cream and decorate the top of the cake by squeezing the cream out gently.
- Place the cherries on top of each whipped cream decoration. Optimally, the cake should rest in the fridge until the whipped cream locks the layers together for about 6 hours.
Enjoy!
Black forest cake is a the cherry on top but these cakes are superb too:
- Dobos Torte Recipe
- Halloween Cake with Mascarpone & Chocolate
- Sacher Torte Recipe
- Chocolate Orange Cake
Black Forest Cake Recipe
Equipment
- ؽ" / Ø21cm Baking tray
Ingredients
Base
- ⅞ cup Butter unsalted
- 3 tablespoons Honey or sweetener of choice
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 1 ⅔ cup Flour
- 5 oz Chocolate melted
- 8 medium Eggs Separated
Filling
- 2 cups Black cherries jam Sour cherries if available
- Kirsch liquer if available, can be substituted with rum
- 3 cups Heavy whipping cream
Topping
- Sour cherries or cherries to decorate with
- Chocolate flakes
Instructions
Base
- Melt chocolate.
- Separate eggs.
- First beat egg whites until stiff peaks form.
- Next beat butter until soft and fluffy. Put honey and vanilla extract into it as well.
- Beat yolks until fluffy and light yellow so it’s ready to add to the butter.
- Alternate flour, melted chocolate, yolks whilst mixing them with the butter. Incorporate them well then as a final step, fold egg whites to the mixture.
- Pour batter into the spring baking form then place it onto the middle rack of a 350°F / 180°C preheated oven until internal temperature reaches 190°F – 210°F / 88°F – 99°C which should happen in about 30 – 40 minutes. When it's out of the oven, place it on a cooling rack until it completely cools down. Don't try to work with it even if it's only slightly warm as it would ruin the whipped cream's texture thus the whole cake.
- Cut the cake into 3 equal pieces horizontally.
Filling
- In a bowl mix jam and the liquor.
- In a different bowl beat the whipped cream until hard peaks form. Divide the jam into 3 equal parts then divide the whipped cream into 4 equal parts.
Assembly
- Spread ⅓ of the jam on the bottom part of the cake.
- Spread ¼ of the whipped cream on the bottom of the cake on top of the jam.
- Place the second layer of the cake on top of the 1st layer of whipped cream. Repeat spreading the jam and the whipped cream on the second layer.
- Put the third cake layer on top of the second whipped cream layer. Spread the remaining ⅓ jam on top of the last cake layer and ¼ of whipped cream on top.
- Divide the rest of the whipped cream into two parts and spread one part on the side of the cake.
- Sprinkle chocolate flakes on the side and the top.
- Fill a pastry bag with the remaining whipped cream and decorate the top of the cake by squeezing the cream out gently.
- Place the cherries on top of each whipped cream decoration. Optimally, the cake should rest in the fridge until the whipped cream locks the layers together for about 6 hours.
Notes
Nutrition
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This doesn’t even look real! Very nice one!
It’s a bit difficult but definitely worth it!
But it tastes real for sure! 😀
No matter how scary is the road open the door and good things will come to you!