This easy black forest cake without alcohol always hits the spot! The traditional german cake is creamy, fruity and chocolatey.
Hello everyone. The black forest cake is one of the most popular and well-known German cakes ever. So enjoy this recipe!
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Black forest cake tastes lovely: chocolatey, creamy, fruity! The preparation is admittedly a bit (time) consuming. But with this easy black forest cake recipe, even beginners can make it.
Why is my recipe especially suitable for beginners? Because it's a little different than others. While you make the classic black forest cake with sponge cake (and sometimes an additional shortcrust base), this one is made with easy chocolate cake batter.
Ingredients
In addition, the black forest cake does not use alcohol, gelatin or raw eggs in the filling. So it is suitable for pregnant women, children and vegetarians. Admittedly: It does take a little time to prepare - although compared to other recipes, just a little. It's even faster if you make the black forest cake with a store-bought base. In this case, I would recommend a dark Viennese base. But of course, it tastes much better homemade. And most importantly, the black forest cake with a sponge and melted chocolate will be really moist and super chocolaty.
Currently, I like to bake the black forest cake as a naked cake, where you can see the individual layers from the outside. Since I'm not a cake artist, this probably doesn't look quite as perfect on me as it does on others, but I like it. You can use a little more whipped cream to coat the edges of this recipe thoroughly.
How to make the Black Forest Cake
Let's get started with this German classic: First of all, preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C. Grease a small springform pan and dust with cocoa if desired. Melt the chocolate carefully in a hot water bath.
Now, beat the soft butter with the sugar until fluffy and carefully stir in the eggs one by one. Mix flour with almonds or nuts and baking powder. Stir in dry ingredients alternately with the chocolate briefly. Gradually add milk until the dough falls from the spoon with difficulty tearing. Pour dough into prepared pan, smooth out and bake for about 40-45 minutes. Let cool.
Then, drain cherries, reserve juice, and set aside about 10 pretty cherries for decoration. Measure out 80 ml of the juice and mix the cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of the juice. Boil the remaining juice with 1 tablespoon of powdered sugar. Stir in the mixed starch, add cherries. Allow cooling.
After that, cut the cake layer twice horizontally with a large sharp knife or a twine taken crosswise. Whip the cream until stiff, adding cream stiffener and powdered sugar. Place the bottom cake layer on a cake plate. Using a piping bag, pipe a ring of cream as a "rim". Spread half of the thickened cherries on the cake base and spread with about a quarter of the cream. Place the second cake layer on top and do the same: Squirt cream ring as a border, spread cherries and a quarter of the cream on the base. Fill about 3 tablespoons of cream into the piping bag.
In the end, place the third cake layer on top and spread with cream. Pipe cream tuffs as decoration. Place cherries on top. Decorate the cake with chocolate shavings or sprinkles as desired. Refrigerate before cutting and enjoy!
Top Tip
Since sponge cake is moister than sponge cake anyway, the bases don't need to be soaked at all. The fruity component is already present through the thickened cherries. I use only cherry juice for this; in principle, you can also take a bit of cherry brandy if the cake should be with alcohol 😉 .
Recipe Card
Black Forest Cake
Equipment
- 1 small springform pan (8 in/ 20 cm)
Ingredients
For the dough
- 110 grams (½ cup) butter, soft
- 100 grams (½ cup) sugar
- 3 eggs, medium
- 120 grams (1 cups) all-purpose flour, possibly half cornstarch
- 120 grams (1 cup) ground almonds, or hazelnuts
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 90 grams (½ cup) dark chocolate, melted
- 100 milliliters (7 tablespoons) milk, coarse
For filling and decoration
- 250 grams (1 ⅘ cups) cherries, from a jar; drained weight
- 80 milliliters (5 ⅖ tablespoons) cherry juice
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
- 450 milliliters (2 cups) cream
- 2 packets cream stiffener
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- Chocolate shavings, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C. Grease a small springform pan and dust with cocoa if desired. Melt the chocolate carefully in a hot water bath.
- Beat the soft butter with the sugar until fluffy. Carefully stir in the eggs one by one. Mix flour with almonds or nuts and baking powder. Stir in dry ingredients alternately with the chocolate briefly. Gradually add milk until the dough falls from the spoon with difficulty tearing.
- Pour dough into prepared pan, smooth out and bake for about 40-45 minutes. Let cool.
- Drain cherries, reserve juice, and set aside about 10 pretty cherries for decoration. Measure out 80 ml of the juice. Mix the cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of the juice. Boil the remaining juice with 1 tablespoon of powdered sugar. Stir in the mixed starch, add cherries. Allow cooling.
- Cut the cake layer twice horizontally with a large sharp knife or a twine taken crosswise. Whip the cream until stiff, adding cream stiffener and powdered sugar.
- Place the bottom cake layer on a cake plate. Using a piping bag, pipe a ring of cream as a "rim". Spread half of the thickened cherries on the cake base and spread with about a quarter of the cream. Place the second cake layer on top and do the same: Squirt cream ring as a border, spread cherries and a quarter of the cream on the base. Fill about 3 tablespoons of cream into the piping bag.
- Place the third cake layer on top and spread with cream. Pipe cream tuffs as decoration. Place cherries on top. Decorate the cake with chocolate shavings or sprinkles as desired. Refrigerate before cutting.
Notes
- The cake will be very moist due to the sponge mixture, even without additional soaking of the bases.
- If you like, you can substitute some juice with cherry brandy.
- This is a naked cake, so the edges are not spread. If you want to spread the cream all around the cake, you need about 500-600 ml of cream. In this case, the "cream ring" is unnecessary as a limit: just spread the cherry mixture on the bases and pour cream on top.
Ingredient substitutions
Variations
Although cherries are summer fruits, the simple black forest cake is quite an autumn and winter cake for me. Then just with cherries from the glass. I wish you an enjoyable time with my easy black forest cake recipe! And all cherry fans among you should also try this sheet cake or the alternative with chocolate.
Nutrition
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About Kathrin & Jan
It's like a little miracle to me every time. Seemingly simple ingredients are made into something that can brighten up your life. Butter, sugar, eggs, and flour melt into an airy biscuit, a fine tart, a juicy cake, or a crispy biscuit. Baking simply makes you happy. Welcome and enjoy our blog!
Kathrin & Jan
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