Black Forest Cake Recipe

This gateau is essentially the most German of all desserts: Black Forest Cake! With layers of chocolate sponge with cherries and cream, you’ll love that it’s not too candy so you possibly can truly style all the weather somewhat than only a pile of sugar!! To our expensive German readers – how do you price my efforts?? 😇

I’ve by no means been fully pleased with Black Forest Cake recipes I’ve tried up to now, whether or not or not it’s conventional German cookbooks, recipes by notable bakers, or on-line sources. Niggly shortcomings appear to plague recipes for this cake. Usually the cake layers are too dry (a quite common offender). Different occasions it isn’t constructed proper. Or the flawed kind of cherries are used.

Or – and the largest concern for me – the cake is simply far too candy and the nuclear sugar ranges obliterate the whole lot.

So I gathered the perfect options that I would like in a Black Forest Cake and constructed what I believe is The Good Black Forest Cake. Right here’s what makes it so!

• Three chocolate cake layers – Tender and moist layers which can be nonetheless sturdy sufficient to carry as much as the (appreciable!) mass of toppings and the all-essential cherry syrup soaking. The sponge is chocolate-y however not overwhelmingly so (save that sort of extra for Chocolate Cake!);

• Cherry syrup that truly tastes of cherries, not simply tooth-aching sweetness from sugar;

• Vanilla cream, simply frivolously sweetened (discover a theme right here?); and

• Jarred somewhat than recent cherries – Jarred cherries merely work higher on this cake from a textural standpoint. They’re softer, juicier and make far more sense to your mouth if you eat the cake. I attempted recent cherries of their prime throughout summer season and so they truthfully weren’t nearly as good!

If all this sounds fairly good to you, then I dare say this may additionally simply be YOUR thought of an ideal Black Forest Cake too!

1. Chocolate cake layers

Black Forest Cake depends on eggs to make the cake layers rise as an alternative of the standard baking powder or baking soda. So that you want many extra eggs than basic chocolate desserts!

Nothing groundbreaking right here! Only a word on a few issues:

• Eggs – Ensure they’re what’s offered as “massive eggs”, that are 55 – 60g / 2oz every. These are industry-standard sizes in Australia and the US. In case your eggs are considerably bigger or smaller in dimension, simply weigh totally different eggs and use 330 – 360g / 12 oz in whole (together with shell) or 300 – 325g / 11 oz in whole excluding shell (that is helpful if it is advisable to use a partial egg to make up the entire required weight. Crack eggs, beat whites and yolks collectively, THEN pour right into a bowl to measure out what you want).

  Use at room temperature – Eggs must be at room temperature and never fridge-cold, as a result of they aerate higher when overwhelmed. That is notably vital for Black Forest Cake as a result of the sponge layers rely solely on the eggs to make them rise; they don’t use baking powder or baking soda like different desserts do. A fast option to heat up fridge-cold eggs: Place eggs in a big bowl, cowl with heat faucet water (simply heat, not scorching) and depart for five minutes. Wipe dry (to keep away from residual water dripping into bowl), then use per recipe; and

• Cocoa – Use Dutch course of cocoa powder in case you can as a result of the color and flavour is extra intense than common cocoa powder. Common, unsweetened cocoa powder can nevertheless be used right here as an alternative – there’s loads of different flavours occurring so it received’t compromise the end result!

2. Cherry layer and syrup

Black Forest Cake is sandwiched with cherries, and the cake layers are additionally soaked with cherry syrup which imparts flavour and moisture to the sponge layers which are sometimes (sadly!) too dry in any other case. Right here’s what you want:

Only a word on a few gadgets:

• Morello / bitter cherries in a can or jar, in syrup or juice – Sure, jarred not recent cherries! I’ve tried this cake with recent cherries and though beautiful when summer season cherries are of their prime, the cake simply isn’t the identical. Canned fruits are softer and juicier, and simply make extra sense right here. Even when recent cherries are cooked all the way down to make a sauce (like I do with blueberries) the feel simply wasn’t nearly as good. So, canned cherries it’s!

  Additionally, we use the flavoured syrup from the jar as the bottom for the cherry syrup used to brush the cake layers.

  Can’t discover canned cherries? Use frozen pitted cherries + cherry juice as an alternative. Thaw fully (reserve liquid). Prime up utilizing cherry juice to make up the cherry liquid referred to as for within the recipe;

• Kirsch or cherry liqueur – This can be a German-origin, cherry-flavoured brandy. Genuine Black Forest Cake makes use of it within the cherry syrup. When you favor to not use alcohol, simply substitute with extra reserved cherry juice.

3. Decorations!

• Cream – We want a hefty quantity of cream for this recipe! It’s solely frivolously sweetened with icing sugar so isn’t overly heavy or wealthy.

  This recipe doesn’t name for stabilised cream (ie. the place the aeration of cream is stabilised utilizing gelatine or cornflour; there’s just a few strategies). I favor the pure, unadulterated flavour of plain whipped cream. It does nevertheless lose aeration after just a few days. Utilizing heavy / thickened cream somewhat than pure cream helps the cream to keep up its kind.

  Having mentioned that, the cake remains to be completely scoff-able even on Day 4! I simply wouldn’t take it to an occasion to impress. 🙂

  If you wish to use stabilised cream which can maintain its kind close to completely for 3 to 4 days, right here is the recipe I take advantage of (it’s a PDF doc, I’ll publish it correctly someday!);

• Cherries for adorning – Use any cherries you need right here. I’ve opted for maraschino cherries each for his or her merry, vivid pink color (adore it!) and in addition as a result of cherries are out of season proper now right here. I’d positively use recent cherries if I may get my fingers on them!

• Chocolate – For making curls or shavings to make use of in adorning!

1. Chocolate sponge cake layers

1. Sift flour and cocoa: Sift the flour and cocoa right into a bowl to take away any pesky lumps. That is vital for this cake batter so you possibly can minimise the quantity of blending required if you fold the flour into the aerated eggs. I hate sifting too, so I promise I solely do it when important!!

2. Beat eggs: Beat eggs briefly to mix, then slowly add the sugar in over 45 seconds whereas beating. Now beat the eggs for an entire 7 minutes on pace 8 till it’s pale in color and tripled in quantity. Don’t shortcut this step – that is what makes the cake rise (keep in mind, there’s no baking powder used);

4. Fold in butter: Add butter and gently fold that via as properly, till you will have a clean batter;

5. Bake: Divide the batter between 3 x 20cm (8”)cake pans. The batter needs to be skinny sufficient to be pourable into the cake pans, somewhat than having to scoop and dollop. You’ll nonetheless have to scrape the bowl out although.

   Bake for 25 minutes at 180°C / 350°F (160°C fan).

   In case your oven is just not massive sufficient to suit 3 cake pans on one shelf, do as I do: Put 2 pans within the center shelf, and one on a decrease shelf proper beneath. Take the highest 2 pans out at 25 min, and depart the underside cake pan in for an additional 2 minutes;

6. Cool: Verify to make sure the desserts are cooked by inserting a skewer into the centre and making certain it comes out clear. If there may be batter on the skewers, it means the cake must be cooked extra so simply return it to the oven.

   Then flip the cake out onto cooling racks, and permit to chill totally earlier than assembling!

2. Cherry syrup and cherries

Whereas the cake is baking / cooling, put together the cherries and syrup for sandwiching.

1. Drain cherries: Drain jar of cherries, reserving the liquid;

2. Measure out 1/4 cup (60ml) of the reserved cherry juice to make a cornflour slurry;

3. Cherry cornflour slurry: Combine the reserved 1/4 cup of juice with cornflour to make the slurry;

4. Make cherry syrup: Place a medium pot over medium low warmth, add the sugar and one other 1/3 cup of remaining reserved juice. Carry to a delicate simmer to dissolve the sugar.

   Then add the cornflour slurry and produce to a simmer. Cook dinner for 1 minute or till it thickens into a skinny syrup. We would like the syrup to be fairly skinny so it soaks the cake layers all over somewhat than selecting prime;

5. Add kirsch (cherry liquor): Take away from the warmth and stir within the kirsch;

6. Soak cherries, cool: Now pour the syrup over the drained cherries and permit to chill fully earlier than utilizing. On this step, the cherries get soaked with the additional flavour from the kirsch.

3. Chocolate curls (optionally available)

This step is fully optionally available as a result of it does take a little bit of apply. When you’re having hassle making curls, don’t fret. Even when they don’t work out, you’ll on the very least be left with chocolate shavings which nonetheless look GREAT on Black Forest Muffins. Actually, most Black Forest Muffins are embellished with chocolate shavings somewhat than fancier curls!

1. Unfold over again of baking tray: Break up the block of chocolate and place in a microwave-safe bowl. Gently soften in a microwave by heating over three 20-second bursts, stirring in between.

   Pour the melted chocolate over the again of a baking pan and unfold out with a spatula as thinly as attainable;

2. Refrigerate for 3 – 4 minutes till the centre is simply set.

3. Scrape curls: Utilizing one thing with a pointy straight edge (I take advantage of a bench scraper, spatula or the again of a knife additionally works), maintain it at a forty five diploma angle and scrape alongside the tray away from you to create curls. Do a small check patch first. If the chocolate is simply too exhausting, the curls could break or flake. Depart to melt barely and check out once more. If the chocolate is simply too gentle, the curls sag and received’t roll. Refrigerate extra to harden; and

4. Whip cream: Simply previous to assembling the cake, beat the cream till stiff. Refrigerate till required.

4. Assembling the cake

We’re on the house stretch right here! Plus that is the actually enjoyable half!

1. Brush with cherry syrup: Brush a cake layer with 1/4 cup of the cherry syrup that the cherries are soaking in.

2. Add cream layer: Unfold with 1 cup of whipped cream, leaving a 1cm (1/2″) border (the load of cake when positioned on prime and gently pressed will push the cream to edge).

3. Layer cherries: Prime the cream layer with half the cherries (in a single layer), utilizing a slotted spoon to empty properly. Don’t pat them dry although, need the cherries juicy!;

4. Repeat: Prime with a cake layer, brush with 1/4 cup syrup, unfold with 1 cup cream, prime with remaining cherries, and place third cake layer on prime.

   End by brushing the highest layer with 1/3 cup of the cherry syrup. You’ll have some syrup leftover.

5. Cowl with cream: Reserve 1 1/2 cups whipped cream for piping decorations later. Unfold the remaining cream excessive and facet of the cake;

6. Chocolate shavings: Pile massive chocolate curls within the center (I stack them in a tent form like I’m constructing a fireplace!) Use the smaller damaged shavings to coat the bottom of the perimeters of the cake (with chilly fingers, scoop some shavings, press on facet, repeat).

7. Pipe dollops of cream across the edge utilizing a big star-tipped nozzle; and

8. Prime with cherries, and relaxation cake: Prime every cream dollop with a maraschino cherry.

   Then importantly, REST the cake within the fridge for 4+ hours, ideally in a single day, to permit flavours to develop and the syrup to essentially soak into the cake. This step is vital for a very nice Black Forest Cake, so don’t skip it!

Now THIS is what I name a cake!!! All these layers, all these parts – that is the glory of the Black Forest Cake!

Black Forest Cake wraps up German Week right here on RecipeTin Eats! This week I shared recipes to make your very personal German feast at dwelling. On the menu we have now:

• Sluggish Roasted CRISPY Pork Knuckle – Declared by German readers to be higher than they’ve ever seen in Germany!! #BestComplimentEver

• German Potato Salad – A heat, German-inspired potato salad with a bacon French dressing. You recognize it’s going to hit the mark!

• German Cucumber Salad – A refreshing and cooling facet that’s excellent with hearty German meals; and

• This Black Forest Cake to complete with a bang!

Crispy German Pork Knuckle (Schweinshaxe) with Beer Gravy

German Potato Salad

German Cucumber Salad

And with that, one other theme week menu is finished! What delicacies lets deal with subsequent? Depart a remark beneath! – Johnsat x

‘Theme week’ menus from years passed by:

• Center Jap Mezze & BBQ Menu

• Massive Mexican Fiesta

• Spanish Week!

• Greek Week!

Black Forest Cake Recipe

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Serves: 12 Prep Time: 40 minutes Cooking Time: 1 hour 1 hour

Nutrition facts: 668 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 5.0/5

( 1 voted )

Ingredients

• 6 large eggs , at room temperature (Note 7)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cup caster sugar (superfine sugar)
• 1/2 cup dutch processed cocoa powder (or unsweetened regular cocoa power, Note 1)
• 2/3 cup plain flour (all-purpose flour)
• 150g / 10.5 tbsp unsalted butter , melted and cooled
• 670g / 23.5 oz pitted morello cherries in syrup (sour cherries, in jar or can) , drained and juice reserved (Note 2)
• 1/3 cup kirsch or cherry liqueur (optional – sub with more reserved cherry juice, Note 3)
• 1/2 cup caster sugar (superfine sugar)
• 4 tsp cornflour / cornstarch
• 4 cups / 1 litre thickened / heavy cream (Note 4)
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/3 cup soft icing sugar / powdered sugar (Australia: Not pure icing sugar, Note 5)
• 100g / 3.5 oz dark chocolate / bittersweet chocolate
• 12 maraschino or fresh cherries (for decorating top of cake)

Instructions

1. Oven and cake pans: Preheat oven to 180°C / 350°F (160°C fan). Grease 3 x 20cm (8”) cake pans with butter, line with parchment / baking paper.
2. Sift dry ingredients: Combine dry ingredients by sifting the cocoa and plain flour into a bowl. Set aside.
3. Beat eggs: Beat eggs for 30 seconds on speed 6 of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, or hand beater.
4. Slowly add sugar: With the beater still going, slowly pour the sugar in over 45 seconds, then add the vanilla.
5. Beat 7 minutes: Beat for 7 minutes more on speed 8, or until tripled in volume and pale in colour. Don't shortcut this step; this is what makes the cake rise (there's no baking powder used).
6. Fold in dry ingredients: Add the flour and cocoa mixture to the batter, folding in with a spatula until just combined (a few streaks of flour remaining is fine). Be gentle here, we don't want to knock out the air bubbles.
7. Fold in butter: Add the butter and fold gently through until just combined. Once you can no longer see any flour, stop stirring.
8. Fill cake pans: Pour the batter into the three prepared pans. The batter should be fairly thin and pourable.
9. Bake: Place into the oven and bake for 25 minutes, until springy to the touch and a skewer inserted into the cake centre comes out clean. (Note 5 regarding shelf placement)
10. Cool: Remove from the oven. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before turning the cakes out onto a rack to cool completely.
11. Drain cherries: Drain jar of cherries, reserving liquid.
12. Cherry cornflour slurry: Measure out 1/4 cup (60ml) of the reserved cherry juice and mix with the cornflour to make a slurry. Set aside.
13. Make cherry syrup: Place a medium pot over medium-low heat. Add the sugar and another 1/3 cup of reserved juice. Bring to a gentle simmer to dissolve the sugar. Stir in the cornflour slurry and bring to a simmer. Cook for 1 minute, stirring, until it thickens into a thin syrup.
14. Soak cherries, cool: Remove from the heat and stir in the kirsch. Pour the syrup over the drained cherries and allow to cool completely before using.
15. Melt chocolate: Break up the block of chocolate and place in a microwave-safe bowl. Gently melt in microwave by heating over three 20 second bursts, stirring in between.
16. Spread: Pour the melted chocolate over the back of a baking pan and spread out with a spatula as thinly as possible. Refrigerate for 3 – 4 minutes until the centre is just set.
17. Scrape curls: Using something with a sharp, straight edge (I use a bench scraper, spatula or the back of a knife also works), hold it at a 45 degree angle and scrape along the tray away from you to create curls. Do a small test patch first. If the chocolate is too hard, the curls may break or flake (leave to soften slightly and try again). If the chocolate is too soft, the curls sag and won't roll (refrigerate more to harden).
18. Having problems?? Don't worry! Just scrape to make shavings instead – it still looks amazing!
19. Refrigerate: Carefully place curls on a plate and refrigerate until ready to use.
20. Just prior to assembling, place cream, icing sugar and vanilla in a large bowl. Whip into pretty stiff peaks – about 5 minutes on high. Refrigerate until needed.
21. Place one cake layer upside down on a serving platter (or cake decorating turn table, if you’re a pro! 🙂 ).
22. Brush with cherry syrup: Brush the cake layer with 1/4 cup of the cherry syrup the cherries are soaking in.
23. Cream layer: Spread with 1 cup of whipped cream, leaving a 1cm (1/2") border (the weight of the next cake layer gently pressed will push cream to edge).
24. Layer cherries: Top the cream with half the cherries (in a single layer), using a slotted spoon to drain well (but don't pat dry, want the cherries juicy!).
25. Repeat: Top with another cake layer, brush with 1/4 cup syrup, spread with 1 cup cream, top with remaining cherries, and place 3rd cake layer on top.
26. Cover with cream: Reserve 1 1/2 cups whipped cream for piping cream decorations. Spread the remaining cream over the top and side of the cake. Pipe dollops around the edge of top using a large star-tipped nozzle. Top each dollop with a maraschino cherry.
27. Chocolate shavings: Pile large chocolate curls in the middle (I stack in a tent shape like building a fire!). Use the smaller broken shavings to coat the base of the sides of the cake (using cold hands, scoop up shavings, press on side).
28. Rest 4 hours+: Leave cake in the fridge for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight, to allow flavours to develop and syrup to really soak into the cake.
29. Take out of fridge: Remove from fridge 30 minutes prior to serving (but be mindful of cream melting on hot days). Slice and serve proudly!

Notes

1. Cocoa powder – Dutch processed will give the cake layers a deeper chocolate colour and more flavour. But regular unsweetened cocoa powder will be just fine too –  plenty of other flavours going on here in this cake!
2. Canned / jarred cherries – Use pitted morello cherries in syrup (sour cherries), drained and juice reserved. Texturally they work better than fresh cherries in this cake (I tried both!) Plus we use the syrup from the jar for the cake syrup.
Where to get jarred cherries – I use this one or this one from Woolworths, Coles etc in Australia. They’re easily found in the canned fruit aisle.
Frozen pitted cherries – Use these as an alternative. Thaw completely (reserve liquid). Plus use cherry juice for the liquid in the recipe to make the syrup (tip in the liquid from thawed cherries).
3. Kirsch or cherry liqueur – This is a key ingredient for a truly authentic Black Forest Cake! However if you cannot have alcohol, substitute with more reserved cherry juice.
4. Cream – Yes, I know, it sounds like a LOT! But you will use it all!
Some recipes use stabilised cream, but I prefer plain fresh cream as it’s lighter in mouthfeel. It won’t weep within the 3- 4 days that the cake keeps as long you use heavy / thickened cream (rather than plain pure cream) and whip it until stiff as directed in the recipe. After 3 days, the cream starts to noticeably lose aeration but the cake is still deliciously scoff-able!
STABILISED CREAM OPTION: If you want the cream to look freshly whipped for 4 days, make stabilised cream instead. Here is a PDF document with my recipe for stabilised cream (I will publish it properly one day!!).
5. Icing sugar – It’s best to use what’s labelled “soft icing sugar” in Australia (which is a mix of pure icing sugar + cornflour). For this recipe, what’s sold as “pure icing sugar” will also work ok.
6. Fitting cakes into oven – If all three cake pans don’t all fit on one shelf (like my standard oven), put 2 pans in the middle shelf, and one pan on a shelf directly underneath. Take the top 2 pans out after 25 mins, and leave the bottom cake pan in for another 2 minutes.
7. Eggs – Eggs need to be at room temperature and not fridge-cold, to ensure it incorporates properly into the batter or aerates better when beaten. A quick way to warm up fridge-cold eggs: Place eggs in a large bowl, cover with warm tap water (just warm, not hot) and leave for 5 minutes. Wipe dry (to avoid residual water dripping into bowl), then use per recipe.
Large eggs:  50 – 55g / 2 oz per egg is the industry standard of sizes sold as “large eggs” in Australia and the US. If your eggs are significantly larger or smaller in size, just weigh different eggs and use 330 – 360g / 12 oz in total (including shell) or 300 – 325g / 11 oz in total excluding shell (this is useful if you need to use a partial egg to make up the total required weight. Crack eggs, beat whites and yolks together, THEN pour into a bowl to measure out what you need).
8. Chocolate Curls – These can take practice, but honestly, don’t get hung up about it. Curls are optional! If they don’t work out or you want an easier option, it’s easy to make shavings by refrigerating the chocolate until hard, then shave it using a knife, spatular etc. Sprinkle this across the surface. This is what most recipes do anyway, and it looks GREAT!
9. Storage and serving – Keeps 3 – 4 days in the fridge. Keep covered. Take out 30 mins prior to serving (watch the cream on hot days).

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Sarah Miller

Hi, I’m Sarah Millar!
I’m a food blogger who loves creating quick and easy recipes that bring big flavor without the fuss. Cooking doesn’t have to be complicated — and I’m here to share simple, fast food ideas that anyone can make at home. When I’m not in the kitchen, you’ll usually find me tasting new dishes, exploring cafés, or coming up with fresh food hacks to make everyday meals more fun.

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