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Black Forest Cake

Three layers of tender chocolate sponge soaked in cherry syrup, filled with stabilized whipped cream and sour cherries, and finished with chocolate shavings and fresh cherries.

Prep
1 hr
Cook
35 min
Rest
4 hr
Makes
One 8 in (20 cm) cake, 12 slices
Jump to the recipe
A Black Forest cake with whipped cream rosettes, cherries and chocolate shavings
Photo: Сослан / Pexels

Black Forest cake, the German Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, is three things in balance: a tender chocolate cake, sour cherries and a lot of barely sweetened whipped cream. It is not meant to be a dense, fudgy cake under buttercream. The cream and the tart fruit cut the chocolate, and every forkful should feel light. What makes or breaks it is a cake that soaks up syrup without collapsing and whipped cream that holds its shape for a day.

The cake here is an oil-based chocolate cake rather than the classic egg-foam sponge, and it stays soft and moist even when cold from the refrigerator. Butter cakes firm up and turn dry once chilled, and this cake lives in the refrigerator. Cocoa powder, bloomed in hot coffee, gives deep chocolate flavor without making the crumb heavy. You will not taste the coffee; it just intensifies the cocoa.

Bake the batter in one tall pan and slice it into three layers, or in three thinner pans if you have them. Thin layers soak up the syrup evenly and give the cake its distinctive striped cross-section.

The cherry syrup is where the flavor of the cake really lives. Sour cherries from a jar, in light syrup, are the classic choice. Drain them, then simmer the juice with sugar and a little cornstarch for the filling, and keep part of the juice for brushing the layers. Traditionally the soaking syrup includes kirsch, a clear cherry brandy, which gives the cake its signature aroma. It is optional; without it the syrup is still bright and fruity. Brush the layers generously. A dry Black Forest cake is the most common disappointment.

Whipped cream alone weeps and slumps within hours under the weight of cake layers. Stabilizing it fixes that. A small amount of mascarpone or cream cheese whipped in with the cream gives it body and lets it hold sharp edges for two days in the refrigerator. Powdered sugar sweetens it lightly; keep it less sweet than you think, because the syrup and cherries add sweetness of their own.

Assembly is simple, and it does not need to look perfect. A layer of cake, brushed with syrup, then cream, then cherries pressed into it, and repeat. Cover the outside in cream, then press chocolate shavings onto the sides and pipe a few rosettes on top for the cherries.

The cake needs at least four hours in the refrigerator before slicing, so the syrup soaks in and the cream sets. It is even better the next day.

For an easier chocolate cake on a weeknight, chocolate mayonnaise cake is a one-bowl recipe with the same moist crumb. Chocolate tres leches cake is the other cake that is better for soaking overnight. Chocolate chip cookies and chocolate-cinnamon sugar cookies are quicker chocolate fixes.

A Black Forest cake with slices cut away
Photo: Hans / Pixabay

Black Forest cake, layer by layer

Three layers of tender chocolate sponge soaked in cherry syrup, filled with stabilized whipped cream and sour cherries, and finished with chocolate shavings and fresh cherries.

Chocolate sponge, sour cherries, a lot of cream

For the chocolate cake

  • 1¾ cups (220 g) all-purpose flour
  • 1¾ cups (350 g) granulated sugar
  • ¾ cup (65 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1½ tsp baking powder
  • 1½ tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp fine salt
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk, at room temperature
  • ½ cup (120 ml) vegetable oil
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup (240 ml) hot brewed coffee

For the cherries and syrup

  • 2 jars (24 oz / 680 g each) pitted sour cherries in light syrup
  • ¼ cup (50 g) granulated sugar
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 3 tbsp kirsch (optional)

For the whipped cream and decoration

  • 3 cups (710 ml) cold heavy cream
  • 8 oz (225 g) cold mascarpone
  • ¾ cup (90 g) powdered sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 4 oz (115 g) dark chocolate bar, at room temperature, for shavings
  • 12 fresh cherries with stems, or maraschino cherries

Bake, soak, fill, cover, shave

  1. 1 Heat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease three 8 in (20 cm) round cake pans, line the bottoms with parchment and grease again.
  2. 2 Whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add the eggs, buttermilk, oil and vanilla and beat 2 minutes on medium. Stir in the hot coffee; the batter will be thin.
  3. 3 Divide among the pans and bake 22–26 minutes, until a toothpick in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool 10 minutes in the pans, then turn out onto racks and cool completely.
  4. 4 Drain the cherries, keeping all the juice. Measure 1 cup (240 ml) juice into a saucepan with the sugar and cornstarch. Whisk and bring to a boil, stirring, until thick and glossy, 2 minutes. Stir in half the cherries and cool completely. Mix ½ cup (120 ml) of the remaining juice with the kirsch, if using, for brushing.
  5. 5 Beat the cold cream, mascarpone, powdered sugar and vanilla in a chilled bowl to firm peaks, 2–3 minutes. Do not overbeat.
  6. 6 Level the cake tops if domed. Set one layer on a plate and brush generously with the cherry syrup. Pipe a ring of cream around the edge, fill the center with half the thickened cherry filling, scatter half the remaining drained cherries over it, and spread a thin layer of cream on top. Repeat with the second layer.
  7. 7 Add the top layer, brush with syrup, and cover the top and sides of the cake with the remaining cream, saving about 1 cup (240 ml) for piping.
  8. 8 Shave the chocolate with a vegetable peeler and press the shavings onto the sides of the cake. Pipe 12 rosettes on top, set a cherry on each, and scatter the remaining shavings in the center. Refrigerate at least 4 hours before slicing.

One-pan layers, no kirsch and frozen cherries

  • One pan: bake the batter in an 8 in (20 cm) springform pan at least 3 in (8 cm) deep for 50–60 minutes, cool, and slice into three layers with a long serrated knife.
  • Without kirsch: brush the layers with cherry juice mixed with ½ tsp almond extract for a similar aroma.
  • Frozen cherries: use 1½ lb (680 g) frozen sour or dark sweet cherries, thawed. Simmer with ¾ cup (180 ml) water and ⅓ cup (65 g) sugar, set aside ½ cup (120 ml) of the liquid for brushing, then thicken the rest with the cornstarch.
  • Make ahead: bake the layers up to 2 days ahead, wrap them and refrigerate, or freeze up to 1 month. The assembled cake keeps 3 days in the refrigerator.
  • Cream cheese: 4 oz (115 g) softened cream cheese can replace the mascarpone.

Dry layers, runny cream and pie filling

The layers were not soaked enough. Brush each layer generously with cherry syrup and let the cake rest at least 4 hours so it soaks in.

Plain whipped cream weeps over time. Whipping it with mascarpone or cream cheese stabilizes it so it holds for days.

No. Kirsch gives the traditional aroma, but the cake is delicious with cherry juice alone.

Yes, one 21 oz (595 g) can replaces the thickened cherry filling. It is sweeter, so use less powdered sugar in the cream.