Black Forest Cake

This Black Forest Cake recipe is simply beautiful and is super delicious with layers of moist chocolate cake, lightly whipped cream, cherry compote and fresh cherries.

Course Dessert

Prep Time 40

Cook Time 30

Total Time 1 10

Servings people

Calories 551kcal

Author Mara

Ingredients

Cherry Compote

2 pounds frozen cherries
½ cup white granulated sugar
2 tablespoons kirsch or cherry liqueur

Chocolate Cake

2 cups all purpose flour
¾ cup cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking pwoder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs, large
2 cups white granulated sugar
½ cup vegetable oil or canola oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 & ½ cups buttermilk or sour cream

Whipped Cream

3 cups heavy whipping cream
6 tablespoons powdered sugar

Decorations

2 squares bittersweet chocolate grated or finely chopped
fresh cherries

Instructions

Cherry Compote

Put the frozen cherries and sugar into a medium sized saucepan set over a low heat. As the sugar dissolves the cherries will start to release their juices.
Recipe Tip: If you are going to use fresh cherries then add 2 tablespoons of water along with the sugar as the water content in fresh is different to frozen.
Bring the cherries to a simmer then allow to cook down for 15-20 minutes until you have a thick syrupy cherry compote. Remove from the heat, stir in the Kirsch and set aside to cool.

Cake

Grease and line two 8 inch baking pans. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Then start making the chocolate cake by putting flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large mixing bowl. Use a hand whisk to mix the ingredients until combined.
In a separate large mixing bowl, add eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla extract. Use an electric whisk to beat the ingredients until the are pale, smooth and voluminous.
Add a ⅓ of the buttermilk to the mixing bowl and mix using a spatula.
Repeat until all of the egg mixture and buttermilk has been used up, resulting in a thick and glossy chocolate cake batter.
Recipe Tip: Don’t worry if there are still a few lumps in the cake batter - the buttermilk will eat away at them while the cake bakes.
Divide the chocolate cake batter between the prepared pans. Put them into the preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes or until the cake is springy to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

Whipped Cream

Put the heavy cream and powdered sugar into a large mixing bowl. Use a handheld electric whisk to beat together until whipped to medium or stiff peaks.

Assemble

Remove the cakes from the pans. Place one cake on a cake stand or plate. Add a heaping cup of cream on top of the cake.
Use an offset spatula to spread the cream in an even layer on the cake.
Next, add a layer of cherry compote.
Put the second cake on top, add a layer of cherry compote. (Saving some of the syrup to drizzle on later).
Add the remaining cream.
Add fresh cherries on top of the cream, drizzle the reserved cherry syrup, and scatter chopped chocolate. Slice, serve and enjoy!

Notes

Don't over bake the cake layers - Every oven is different, and I can only provide an average baking time as it will vary from oven to oven.

Let the cake and cherry mixture cool completely before using. If the cake or cherry mixture is too warm, it will melt the whipped cream and create a mess.

Use a cold metal bowl to make the whipped cream and whip until medium-stiff peaks form. The more stable the whipped cream, the better results you will have while frosting the cake.

Nutritional information for this recipe is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. Please calculate your own nutritional information if you want it exact to what you make and use my calculations as a guide only.

Nutrition