I think this black forest cake is one of my favourite recipes to date! It’s intense in flavour, yet light as a cloud.
Consisting of soft chocolate sponge cake layers soaked in a cherry syrup, topped with a sour cherry filling, stabilised whipped cream and dark chocolate, this black forest cake will not disappoint – I PROMISE! 🙂
What is a Black Forest Cake
A Black Forest cake, also known as Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte in German, is a classic and iconic dessert originating from the Black Forest region in Germany. It is a rich and decadent layered cake known for its distinctive ingredients and flavors. The key components include:
Chocolate sponge cake layers – a traditional black forest cake is supposed to be light, which is where many recipes go wrong. Instead of an oil or butter cake, it’s best to use a sponge cake for a more authentic version.
Cherry filling/syrup – Morello (sour cherries) are used as a filling for black forest cake (with a few other ingredients), and a cherry syrup is used to soak the chocolate cake layers. Traditional black forest cake has cherry brandy (called Kirsch) in the syrup (and sometimes filling too), however I’ve left this out. To make up for this, I’ve used an almond essence/extract which adds a nutty and pungent flavour to the cake. I find it much better than just using cherry juice on it’s own 🙂
Whipped cream – as mentioned earlier, a traditional black forest cake is supposed to be light, hence why whipped cream is used. I’m definitely not complaining – whipped cream is probably one of my favourite frostings! 😀
Dark chocolate – dark chocolate is used to cover the sides of a black forest cake.
Additional cherries – when decorating, either fresh, glacé or maraschino cherries are placed on top of the cake.
How to Make Black Forest Cake
Now I’m going to be honest with you, black forest cake is a little more intensive than your regular cake, and you have to wait at least 4 hours after it’s made to eat it. BUT, I promise it is so so worth it! 🙂
As always, full quantities of all the ingredients along with the written recipe is in the recipe card at the end of the blog post.
Cherry Filling
Add cherry juice, sugar, lemon juice, cornstarch, almond flavouring and ground cinnamon to a saucepan. Place it over a medium heat and continuously mix until it thickens up in consistency.
Once thick, take it off the heat and add in the morello cherries. Mix gently so that the cherries are coated in the thickened mixture. Place into a bowl and set aside to cool.
Cherry Syrup
In a bowl combine the cherry juice and almond flavouring. Mix and set aside for later.
Chocolate Sponge Cake
Preheat oven to 160 °C (320°F) with the fan on (see note 2 on recipe card if you don’t have a fan function) and grease and/or line only the bottom of three 8 inch cake tins. I line the bottoms with baking paper cut into circles. Leave the sides ungreased.
Sift together the flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder, instant coffee powder and salt. Using a whisk, mix until well combined and set aside for now.
In a small bowl or cup, combine the oil and butter. Mix and set aside.
In a large bowl crack in the six whole eggs. To it add in the sugar and vanilla flavouring and using a whisk, mix until well combined. Place the bowl over a small pot of simmering water (make sure the bottom of the bowl isn’t touching the water), and continuously mix until the mixture is warm to the touch and sugar granules are completely dissolved. To check if the mixture is done, either use your fingers to rub some of the mixture between your fingers, and if you can’t feel any sugar granules and the mixture is warm then it’s done. Alternatively, you can use a thermometer and when the mixture comes to 45°C it’s ready.
Take the bowl off the heat immediately as you don’t want to cook the eggs. Using a hand or stand mixer on a medium high speed, whip the egg mixture until it’s tripled in volume and is thick enough to form ribbons when lifted with a spatula (see video demonstration). This may take anywhere from 5-10 minutes depending on the strength and speed of your mixer.
Once it’s at the right consistency, turn the mixer down to the lowest speed and mix for a further 2 minutes. This will help stabilise the batter and get rid of any large air bubbles.
Next sift in half of the premixed dry ingredients and gently fold it into the egg mixture with a spatula until it’s almost combined. Then sift in the remaining half of the dry ingredients and gently fold until it’s just combined.
Next add in the oil/butter mixture and gently fold until it’s just combined. The butter should be melted, so if it’s solidified then reheat it again before pouring into the batter.
Distribute the batter evenly into the three cake tins. Run a toothpick through the batter to remove any large air bubbles (see video demonstration). Also drop the cake tins lightly on the counter top.
Bake for 20-22 minutes or until the tops are set. You should be able to create a small indent on the top of the cakes with your finger that slowly bounces back.
Once baked, drop the cakes from a height of about 10cm to release some of the steam, and allow the cakes to cool upside down for about 30 minutes. 30 minutes later, run a thin knife around the edges of the cake tins to help release the cakes and then turn them out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
Once they’re cooled, gently brush off the thin layer of crust on the tops of your cake layers with your hands. This will allow the cake to soak up the syrup better later on in the recipe.
Dark Chocolate
Using a potato peeler, grate the block of chocolate so you have little shards. You only need about 180g so if your block is larger than that, don’t grate the whole block, only what you need 🙂
Place the shredded chocolate into the fridge until you need it.
Stabilized whipped cream
Before beginning, your mascarpone and whipped cream should be cold.
In a large bowl, combine the mascarpone, icing sugar and vanilla. Mix on a low speed for about 10 seconds, and then turn up the speed to a medium high and mix until well combined (about a minute). If using a stand mixer use the whisk attachment.
Add in the whipping cream and mix on a low speed for about 10 seconds (to allow everything to combine without the cream splattering), and then turn up the speed to a medium high and whip until you reach stiff peaks. Keep a careful eye on the mixture as you don’t want to overwhip the cream.
How to Assemble Black Forest Cake
Place your first cake layer onto your cake stand/plate and using a pastry brush, soak it with a generous amount of the cherry juice. Use a 1/3 of the cherry syrup for each cake layer.
Place about 1/4 of the whipped cream into a piping bag with 1A large round tip (or just cut the end of a piping bag off if you don’t have the right piping tip) and pipe a dam around the top edges of the cake layer.
Fill the middle with half of the cherry filling, evenly spreading it out. Cover with a layer of whipped cream and spread it out with an offset spatula so that it’s level.
Place your next cake layer and repeat the steps. So soak with the cherry syrup, pipe a dam of whipped cream, fill the middle with the remaining cherry filling and spread out a layer of whipped cream on the top.
Place the last cake layer on top and soak with the remaining cherry syrup. Cover the tops and sides with whipped cream. Use your hands to cover the sides of the cake with dark chocolate.
Place the remaining whipped cream into a piping bag with a 1M star tip, and pipe swirls around the top edges of the cake. Fill the centre with more shredded chocolate and top the whipped cream swirls with decorative cherries.
Allow the cake to set in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours (ideally overnight) to allow the flavours to develop. Trust me it is worth the wait so don’t eat it too early! 🙂
The Ultimate Black Forest Cake
Print Pin VideoIMPORTANT: For accuracy, I would recommend using the gram measurements provided, as those are the exact quantities I use. Cup measurements are given as estimates (based on US cup measurements) to make it easier for those who do not have a scale.
Ingredients
Cherry Filling
- 2 cups (400 g) morello cherries - from a 680g or 700g jar with syrup removed. Save syrup for other elements of the cake.
- 3 tbsp (40 g) cherry juice - from the jar of morello cherries
- ¼ cup (50 g) white granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp (14 g) fresh lemon juice
- 2 tbsp (15 g) cornstarch - also known as cornflour in some countries
- ⅛ tsp almond essence or extract
- ⅛ tsp ground cinnamon
Cherry Syrup (for soaking cake layers)
- ⅔ cup (150 g) cherry juice - from the jar of morello cherries
- ⅛ tsp almond essence or extract - in replacement of Kirsch (see note 1)
Chocolate Sponge Cake
- ¾ cup (90 g) all purpose flour
- ¼ cup (30 g) cornstarch
- ⅓ cup (35 g) cocoa powder - Dutch processed preferred
- 1 tsp instant coffee powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp (30 g) unflavoured vegetable oil - I use canola oil
- 2 tbsp (28 g) melted unsalted butter
- 6 large eggs
- 1 cup (200 g) white granulated sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla essence/extract
Dark Chocolate (for covering sides and top of cake)
- 1 block (180 g) dark chocolate (50% dark)
Stabilised Whipped Cream
- 1 cup (225 g) mascarpone - cold
- ½ cup (60 g) icing sugar - also known as powdered or confectioners sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla essence/extract
- 3 cups (670 g) whipping cream - cold, minimum fat percentage of 34%
Extra Decorations
- 10-12 cherries (fresh, glacé or maraschino)
Instructions
Cherry Filling
- Add the cherry juice, sugar, lemon juice, cornstarch, almond flavouring and ground cinnamon to a saucepan. Place it over a medium heat and continuously mix until it thickens up in consistency.
- Once thick, take it off the heat and add in the morello cherries. Mix gently so that the cherries are coated in the thickened mixture. Place into a bowl and set aside to cool.
Cherry Syrup
- In a bowl combine the cherry juice and almond flavouring. Mix and set aside for later.
Chocolate Sponge Cake
- Preheat oven to 160 °C (320°F) with the fan on (see note 2 if you don't have a fan function) and grease and/or line only the bottom of three 8 inch cake tins. I line the bottoms with baking paper cut into circles. Leave the sides ungreased.
- Sift together the flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder, instant coffee powder and salt. Using a whisk, mix until well combined and set aside for now.
- In a small bowl or cup, combine the oil and butter. Mix and set aside.
- In a large bowl crack in the six whole eggs. To it add in the sugar and vanilla flavouring and using a whisk, mix until well combined. Place the bowl over a small pot of simmering water (make sure the bottom of the bowl isn't touching the water), and continuously mix until the mixture is warm to the touch and sugar granules are completely dissolved. To check if the mixture is done, either use your fingers to rub some of the mixture between your fingers, and if you can't feel any sugar granules and the mixture is warm then it's done. Alternatively, you can use a thermometer and when the mixture comes to 45°C it's ready.
- Take the bowl off the heat immediately as you don't want to cook the eggs. Using a hand or stand mixer on a medium high speed, whip the egg mixture until it's tripled in volume and is thick enough to form ribbons when lifted with a spatula (see video demonstration). This may take anywhere from 5-10 minutes depending on the strength and speed of your mixer.
- Once it's at the right consistency, turn the mixer down to the lowest speed and mix for a further 2 minutes. This will help stabilise the batter and get rid of any large air bubbles.
- Next sift in half of the premixed dry ingredients and gently fold it into the egg mixture with a spatula until it's almost combined. Then sift in the remaining half of the dry ingredients and gently fold until it's just combined.
- Next add in the oil/butter mixture and gently fold until it's just combined. The butter should be melted, so if it's solidified then reheat it again before pouring into the batter.
- Distribute the batter evenly into the three cake tins. Run a toothpick through the batter to remove any large air bubbles (see video demonstration). Also drop the cake tins lightly on the counter top.
- Bake for 20-22 minutes or until the tops are set. You should be able to create a small indent on the top of the cakes with your finger that slowly bounces back.
- Once baked, drop the cakes from a height of about 10cm to release some of the steam, and allow the cakes to cool upside down for about 30 minutes. 30 minutes later, run a thin knife around the edges of the cake tins to help release the cakes and then turn them out onto a wire rack to finish cooling.
- Once they're cooled, gently brush off the thin layer of crust on the tops of your cake layers with your hands. This will allow the cake to soak up the syrup better later on in the recipe. You can use a serrated knife for this step too if the top isn't easily coming off.
Dark Chocolate
- Using a potato peeler, grate the block of chocolate so you have little shards. You only need about 180g so if your block is larger than that, don't grate the whole block, only what you need 🙂
- Place the shredded chocolate into the fridge until you need it.
Stabilized whipped cream
- Before beginning, your mascarpone and whipped cream should be cold.
- In a large bowl, combine the mascarpone, icing sugar and vanilla. Mix on a low speed for about 10 seconds, and then turn up the speed to a medium high and mix until well combined (about a minute). If using a stand mixer use the whisk attachment.
- Add in the whipping cream and mix on a low speed for about 10 seconds (to allow everything to combine without the cream splattering), and then turn up the speed to a medium high and whip until you reach stiff peaks. Keep a careful eye on the mixture as you don't want to overwhip the cream.
Assembly
- Place your first cake layer onto your cake stand/plate and using a pastry brush, soak it with a generous amount of the cherry juice. Use a 1/3 of the cherry syrup for each cake layer.
- Place about 1/4 of the whipped cream into a piping bag with 1A large round tip (or just cut the end of a piping bag off if you don't have the right piping tip) and pipe a dam around the top edges of the cake layer.
- Fill the middle with half of the cherry filling, evenly spreading it out. Cover with a layer of whipped cream and spread it out with an offset spatula so that it's level.
- Place your next cake layer on top and repeat the steps. So soak with the cherry syrup, pipe a dam of whipped cream, fill the middle with the remaining cherry filling and spread out a layer of whipped cream on the top.
- Place the last cake layer on top and soak with the remaining cherry syrup. Cover the tops and sides with whipped cream. Use your hands to cover the sides of the cake with the dark chocolate.
- Place the remaining whipped cream into a piping bag with a 1M star tip, and pipe swirls around the top edges of the cake. Fill the centre with more shredded chocolate and top the whipped cream swirls with decorative cherries.
- Allow the cake to set in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours (ideally overnight) to allow the flavours to develop. Trust me it is worth the wait so don't eat it too early! 🙂
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional information are estimates only as they are automatically calculated by a third party application. Actual values may differ based on brands and types of products used.
82 Comments
Hey Miriam.:)
I am wondering why you don‘t use for the sponge cake layers the same recipe as described in your recipe for „Light & Airy Chocolate Sponge Cake“?
In both recipes you bake a sponge cake, but the process you create it differs a bit (e.g. Wipping the whole eggs and warming them lightly up vs separating the egg yolks from the egg whites and adding the whipped egg whites later on). Is there a reason regarding the black forest recipe?
Best regards. ❤️
Hi MK! Can I use cream cheese (low salt) in place of mascarpone? What are the other alternatives for mascarpone?
Hi Maha! 🙂
I haven’t tried that option myself so I’m not too sure sorry! It will likely change the taste of the frosting which may not work as well for blackforest cake. I have seen others use cream cheese with whipped cream (similar to the chantilly cream I use in my chantilly cake recipe), however I usually use mascarpone with cream cheese so the cream cheese taste isn’t overpowering. Alternatively you could just use whipped cream, it’s just that the frosting won’t be as stable, but should still work okay. So sorry I couldn’t be of more help Maha!
Hello!
How many layers of this cake does the 1/2x of this recipe make?
Hi Kayla! 🙂
Great question! This recipe is a bit tricky because it has three layers as opposed to two so is harder to half. Half the recipe would make 1.5 cake layers of the same size (8 inches) and thickness which isn’t all that helpful haha but what I would recommend is using smaller cake tins (around 6 inches) and half the recipe should make three sponges of that size with a decent thickness – you’ll just need to reduce the cook time 🙂
If you wanted two sponges, then 6 inch tins should work too (the sponges will just be a bit thicker) or 7 inch tins will work better if you have them – again, you’d just need to adjust the cook time.
Hope that helps and hope you enjoy the recipe! 🙂
Hello, i bake black forest every year on my daughter’s bday. I will be using your recipe this time. Curious and want to learn why you have not used baking powder for the sponges.
Hi Vinay! 🙂
For this recipe the whipped eggs in the sponge provide the leavening required for the sponges so no extra baking powder or baking soda is needed 🙂
Hope that helps and hope your daughter has a wonderful birthday!
Hi MK, I would love to make this for Christmas day. Is it possible to make the sponge ahead of time and freeze it? I also only have 2, 8″ cake tins, what would you recommend? Thanks!
Hi Adele! 🙂
I haven’t tried freezing the cake layers myself, but I think if wrapped well in cling wrap and placed into an airtight container it should be fine! The cakes will also be soaked in the cherry syrup so this will ensure they’re nice and moist 🙂
If you only have two 8 inch cakes, I would recommend baking two first, then bake the last one as soon as you’ve taken the second cake out of the cake tin. You just want to make sure the batter isn’t left to sit for too long before being baked.
Hope that helps and hope you enjoy the recipe! 🙂
I’ve noticed that some recipes use alcohol as an ingredient for authenticity. If I wanted to incorporate alcohol instead of cherry juice, where would it be best to add it? I understand that this may not align with everyone’s preferences or practices, so I appreciate all suggestions!
Hi Sammy 🙂
Yes, you’re correct in that many authentic recipes do use alcohol. Because I don’t consume alcohol myself i’ve never used it so not too sure how to best incorporate it. From my knowledge, the alcohol is usually added into the cherry syrup (for this recipe I used almond extract/essence as an alcohol replacement). So sorry I couldn’t be of more help!
I would like to use alcohol or make it authentic instead where can I add in the alcohol?
Hi Ray! 🙂
Unfortunately because I haven’t tried it myself I can’t help too much, but alcohol is usually added in the cherry syrup but in a larger amount than what I have used for the almond extract (almond extract/essence is used as an alcohol replacement).
Sorry I couldn’t be of more help!
Can you make the batter ahrad of time?
Thanks
Hi Grace! 🙂 I wouldn’t recommend making the batter and letting it sit, but you could make the cake layers the day beforehand. Simply wrap them well in cling wrap once cooled and placed in to an airtight container until you’re ready to use them the next day 🙂
Hello MK,
Can you please tell me if I can make this into a sheet cake? Can I bake it in a 9*13 inch rectangular cake tin? What kind of adjustments should I make for this
Hi Chaitanya! 🙂
I haven’t tried this recipe as a sheet cake myself, but you should be able to turn it into a 9×13 inch sheet cake, the cake layer may just be a little thick and you may need to adjust the cook time – the exact time I’m not too sure sorry, so just keep a close eye on it to ensure it doesn’t overbake 🙂
Hope that helps and hope you enjoy the recipe!
Gorgeous recipe, I have made the traditional Black Forest several times over the years but your twist on it is amazing, love the almond essence and the mascarpone cream I think is better
Many thanks
Thanks so much for the wonderful feedback Jan 😀
So glad you loved my version and the mascarpone in the recipe too! Mascarpone is one of my fav ingredients ever (I could eat it by the spoon) 😀