Black Forest Cake
This black forest cake is layered with rich dark chocolate cake, fresh cherry jam, fluffy whipped cream, and chocolate curls. My version is a re-imagined version of the outdated classic, bringing out all the best aspects of the flavors and textures. And, it's not too hard to make!
Equipment
- micro-plane or grater
- three 9"x9" cake pans
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup dutch cocoa powder
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp instant espresso powder
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/3 cup granulated white sugar
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup hot water
Cherry Jam
- 3 cups fresh cherries
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 tbsp amaretto or kirsch liquor
Whipped Cream
- 3 cups heavy cream
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Assembly
- 1/2 cup amaretto or kirsch liquor
- 3 oz chocolate bar and more to decorate
- 6 cherries
Instructions
Chocolate Cake
- Preheat your oven to 350ºF. Line three 9"x9" cake tins with a parchment paper circle and grease well with butter or nonstick spray. Set aside while you make the batter.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, espresso powder, and salt.
- In another bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients: vegetable oil, eggs, egg yolks, buttermilk, vanilla, white sugar, brown sugar (sugar is considered a wet ingredient in baking). Stream in the hot water slowly so that you don't cook the eggs.
- Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, then whisk until just combined and there aren't any more flour lumps. Pour the batter evenly between the three pans and spread it out evenly.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes, then let cool completely in the pans.
Cherry Jam
- Pit all of the cherries. Cut two cups of the cherries into small pieces, and cut the remaining cherries into halves. Add the small pieces to a pot along with the sugar, lemon juice, salt, cornstarch, and water.
- Cook the jam down for about 10 minutes until thickened, then fold in the halved cherries and liquor. Let cool completely.
Whipped Cream
- Add the heavy cream, vanilla, and powdered sugar to a bowl and whip until stiff peaks are achieved. Set aside.
Assembly
- Make the chocolate curls: melt about 3 oz of chocolate and spread it thinly on a piece of parchment paper. Roll the parchment paper up, then chill in the fridge until firm. Then, unwrap the paper and the curls should just fall off. Try not to touch the chocolate as much as possible because it can melt quickly.
- Cut each of the three chocolate cakes in half with a serrated knife, so you will have six layers of cake to work with. Place about half of the whipped cream in a piping bag with a star tip and leave the rest in the bowl.
- To assemble, spoon a dollop of cream on a cake stand. Place down your first layer of cake and use a spoon or brush to soak the cake layer in liquor. Pipe a border of whipped cream around the edge.
- Spoon in about 1/5 of the cherry jam and 1/2 cup whipped cream from the bowl. Spread it out until even, then place another cake layer on top.
- Repeat that process until you place the last cake layer on. Soak with the remnants of the liquor and spoon over the rest of the whipped cream in the bowl. Use what's left in the piping bag to pipe six swirls on top of the cake.
- Top each swirl with a cherry, then remove the chocolate curls from the fridge and stack them in the middle as you see in the picture. Use a micro-plane or grater to shave chocolate on top to finish it off. Keep in the fridge until you want to serve then enjoy!