Black Forest Cake is a delicious cake which gets it’s name from being dark, chocolatey with hints of red cherries and resembling the black forests. I finally made the quintessential black forest cake using fresh cherries.
Regular readers would know how much I love fruit based dishes – poached, baked or as beverages – fruits for the win always!
Just like I wanted to use peaches and plums, cherries were also on my wish list for longest time. They are also not easily available in Pune and if they are, then exorbitantly priced.
Not to mention, that the cherries were still highly priced, but I had a reason to celebrate and what better way to do so but with a cake. We have bought a new car and I went all out in using the cherries to bring in the new wheels. I didn’t intend but the cake turned out to be same colors as the car – red and hint of black.
I used the base as my go-to chocolate cake for layered cakes, whipped cream and cherries for filling and ganache with loads of chocolate curls and fresh cherries as topping. I was a bit worried about the cake becoming too sweet due to cherry filling but it turned out great with prefect sweetness.
The cake was super-soft and rich. It was picture perfect. Each and every bite was delicious, moist and decadent.
Black Forest Cake Recipe (Step-by-Step Process)
Black Forest Cake
Black Forest Cake is a delicious cake which gets it’s name from being dark, chocolatey with hints of red cherries and resembling the black forests. I finally made the quintessential black forest cake using fresh cherries.
Servings: 8 inch layered cake
Ingredients
- 3 layers old fashioned chocolate cake
- 3 cup fresh or canned cherries
- 2 tbsp rum
- 2 tsp sugar granulated
- 1 tbsp cornstarch or cornflour
Instructions
- Bake 3 layers of old fashioned chocolate cake.
- To prepare cherry filling – place cherries and rum in a thick bottom sauce pot. Whisk sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl and then add to the cherries. Cook over low flame, till cherries come to a boil and thickens. If you are suing fresh cherries, then you need to cook them till fruit is tender. Allow to cool completely. You may need to add ¼ cup of water or cherry syrup if the sauce is too thick while cooking.
- Assemble and decorate as per your choice.
Notes
- Bake 3 layers of old fashioned chocolate cake.
- Recipe for cherry filling is here.
- Assemble and decorate as per your choice, I spread a thick layer of whipped cream and topped with another generous helping of cherry filling on each layer. For the final topping, I spread a thin layer of ganache and then placed several fresh cherries with chocolate shavings and curls.
- If using canned cherries then drain them. I used 400 grams of canned cherries for filling.
Old Fashion Chocolate Cake
The most decadent and moist old fashioned chocolate cake.
Servings: 9 inch layered cake
Ingredients
for the cake:
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup +1 tbsp sugar granulated
- ⅛ cup + 1 tsp cocoa powder unsweetened
- ¼ tsp baking soda heaped
- ¼ tsp salt
- ⅔ cup hot water
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp white vinegar
- 1 tsp instant coffee granules
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
for the sugar syrup:
- ¼ cup sugar
- ¾ cup water
- chocolate ganache filling and covering the cake
Instructions
for the cake
- Pre-heat oven to 180 °C. Line the bottom of one 8 inch pan.
- Whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda & salt in a large mixing bowl. Do not use mixer.
- Combine water, oil, vinegar, instant coffee & vanilla in a separate bowl.
- Add to the dry ingredients & whisk till just combined. A few lumps are fine.
- Pour batter into the prepared pan & bake for 20-25 mins till tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean.
- Cool the cake in the pan on the rack for 15 minutes, then invert it on the rack. Leave it upside down to cool, it helps in flattening any dome shape.
- I baked three layers by baking this recipe thrice separately. And then froze the layers wrapped in cling film.
for the sugar syrup
- Boil water & sugar together. Once it boils, lower the flame & allow it to heat for another 1 minute. Remove from heat & cool completely. It can be made in advance & stored in refrigerator.
assembling the cake
- Move the frozen layers to refrigerator few hours before assembling. Place the first layer on a platter or cake stand.
- Make some holes into the bottom layer using a form. Soak the bottom layer in sugar syrup. Then lightly spread chocolate ganache over it. Place the second layer on top of the bottom layer & repeat the process of soaking & spreading ganache. Finally place the top layer & again soak it. Lightly spread the ganche on top & sides of the cake. Refrigerate the cake for 1 hr.
- Transfer the cake to a wire rack. Place a cookie sheet under it to catch any excess dripping chocolate ganache.
- Pour the ganache in the center of the cake & tilt the rack to cover the sides of the cake as well.
- Allow the excess to run down the sides of the cake. Decorate with chocolate chips.
- Refrigerate the cake until ganache sets (about 1 hr). I refrigerated for 24 hrs prior to cutting covered in a cake dome as I wanted the flavors to really set in. Serve chilled.
Notes
- Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake: Truffle Cake
- Chocolate Ganache
- You can make a full recipe cake and then slice into three layers or alternatively you can bake 3 layers in separate pans by placing them in a big oven together.
- You can whip the ganache before spreading as filling.
- The consistency of ganache for topping and filling is different. For filling, you need thick consistency (which you get by leaving the ganache at room temperature for few hours) and for pouring as topping, you need the ganache to be pouring consistency. You can re-heat/ warm up the ganache to adjust the consistency.
Sugar Syrup
Easy Sugar Syrup recipe to soak cakes & bakes
Servings: 1 cup syrup
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup sugar granulated
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Boil water & sugar together. Once it boils, lower the flame & allow it to heat for another 1 minute. Remove from heat & cool completely. It can be made in advance & stored in refrigerator.
- Use ⅓ cup of syrup to soak one layer of cake. If you are soaking White Cake then reduce the syrup per layer i.e. ¼ cup sugar in ¾ cup water. And soak each layer in ¼ cup syrup. With ⅓ cup syrup, I have found the cake to get over soaked.
for infusing flavor
- If you are infusing flavor like rose petals, then boil petals once sugar is dissolved for 5-10 minutes. Cool & strain. Continue to use for soaking and assembling.
Notes
- The more you soak the layers before filling, the more moist your cake will be.
- You can infuse this syrup with flavors of your choice. I have used it with dried rose cake by infusing it with 1 cup dried rose petals.
Cherry Filling and Compote
Cherry Filling and Compote recipe can be used for any fruit – strawberry, cape gooseberry, peach etc. The fresh cherries are cooked in sugar to give a deliciously thick compote.
Servings: 250 gram
Ingredients
- 3 cup fresh cherries pitted
- 2 tbsp rum
- ¼ cup sugar powdered
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- ¼ cup water
Instructions
- In a sauce pan, add cherries and rum. Whisk together cornstarch and sugar in a separate bowl and then add to the cherries in the pan. Add water and cook over low heat until the cherries come to a boil and the sauce thickens. The sauce should be thick and transparent. It should take roughly 10 minutes or less. And the fruit should be tender if using fresh cherries.
- Transfer to a bowl and allow to cool completely. You can even store the compote for future use. It lasts upto a week in refrigerator.
Notes
- You may need to adjust water basis on how much time it takes to cook cherries as well as thickening.
- Indian local cherries are not so red. They are more on tart flavor than sweet.
How to Assemble a Cake
Easy steps on How to Assemble a Cake. Follow them to create a layered cake in a jiffy.
Yield: 6 inch layered cake
Equipment
- piping bag, nozzles & levelling knife for decorating and finishing
- parchment paper or strips
Materials
- sugar syrup or chocolate syrup for soaking
- whipped cream or chocolate ganache or buttercream to fill & frost
- fruits, sprinkles, chocolate chips, etc for topping or filling
Instructions
- Move the frozen layers to refrigerator few hours before assembling. Place the first layer on a platter or cake stand.
- Make some holes into the bottom layer using a form. Soak the bottom layer in sugar syrup. Then lightly spread the filling of your choice like whipped cream or butter cream or chocolate ganache over it. Place the second layer on top of the bottom layer & repeat the process of soaking & spreading filling. Finally place the top layer & again soak it. Lightly spread the filling on top & sides of the cake making a crumb coat. Refrigerate the cake for 1 hour.
- Top it generously with chocolate ganache or any glaze or whipped cream or butter cream. Pipe design as you would like. Refrigerate the cake for at least 2 hours or overnight for flavors to set in. Serve chilled.
Notes
- You can whip the ganache before spreading as filling.
- The consistency of ganache for topping and filling is different. For filling, you need thick consistency (which you get by leaving the ganache at room temperature for few hours) and for pouring as topping, you need the ganache to be pouring consistency. You can re-heat/ warm up the ganache to adjust the consistency.
- I use soy-based ready-to-whip cream which is available in market. Transfer a small portion of cream in a large bowl or your stand mixer and beat till stiff peaks are achieved. Fill and frost as per your choice.
Wow … This one is one of my favourite cake. Overall the above recipe is good to start.
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Thanks :)