Black Forest Cake
Try this recipe for a classic and delicious Black Forest Cake, with chocolate cake layers, cherry filling, and whipped cream frosting.
Try this recipe for a classic and delicious Black Forest Cake, with chocolate cake layers, cherry filling, and whipped cream frosting.
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup white sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 cups white sugar
- 1 cup milk
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 2 1/8 cups all-purpose flour
- 3 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
- 2 (20 ounce) cans pitted sour cherries
- Carbohydrate 62.8777450707189 g
- Cholesterol 75.2364583341956 mg
- Fat 31.0200803570326 g
- Fiber 1.50301044932148 g
- Protein 5.45188271165853 g
- Saturated Fat 15.548457362276 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (179g)
- Sodium 425.989222566682 mg
- Sugar 61.3747346213975 g
- Trans Fat 1.64273059749435 g
- Calories 542 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9 inch, round, cake pans; cover bottoms with waxed paper.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, 2 cups sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add eggs, milk, oil, and 1 tablespoon vanilla; beat until well blended. Pour batter into prepared pans.
- Bake for 35 minutes, or until wooden toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean. Cool layers in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Loosen edges, and remove to racks to cool completely.
- Drain cherries, reserving 1/2 cup juice. Combine reserved juice, cherries, 1 cup sugar and cornstarch in a 2 quart saucepan. Cook over low heat until thickened, stirring constantly. Stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Cool before using.
- Combine whipping cream and confectioner's sugar in a chilled medium bowl. Beat with an electric mixer at high speed until stiff peaks form.
- With long serrated knife, split each cake layer horizontally in half. Tear one split layer into crumbs; set aside. Reserve 1 1/2 cups Frosting for decorating cake; set aside. Gently brush loose crumbs off top and side of each cake layer with pasty brush or hands. To assemble, place one cake layer on cake plate. Spread with 1 cup frosting; top with 3/4 cup cherry topping. Top with second cake layer; repeat layers of frosting and cherry topping. Top with third cake layer. Frost side of cake. Pat reserved crumbs onto frosting on side of cake. Spoon reserved frosting into pastry bag fitted with star decorator tip. Pipe around top and bottom edges of cake. Spoon remaining cherry topping onto top of cake.
Substituting salted butter for vegetable oil alters the moisture retention capacity of the crumb because solid fats trap air differently during creaming than liquid lipids. Cocoa powder introduces significant acidity to the batter, which interacts directly with both baking powder and baking soda to drive carbon dioxide production. Precise leavening reactions depend on thorough dry-ingredient mixing before adding dairy and eggs.
Assessing bake times accurately requires observing physical indicators rather than relying solely on the 35-minute timer. Inserting a wooden toothpick into the geometric center of the layer provides the definitive test; clean extraction without wet batter clinging to the wood confirms internal protein coagulation and starch gelatinization. Shrinkage away from the pan edges and a slight spring-back when pressed gently with a fingertip offer secondary confirmation of doneness.
Maintaining textural contrast between the chocolate layers, whipped cream, and cherry filling requires cooling the baked sponges completely on wire racks before assembly. Residual internal heat melts milk fats instantly, collapsing stable whipped cream foams into liquid. Cornstarch functions as the structural thickener for the fruit element, requiring continuous stirring over low heat until the liquid transforms from cloudy to glossy, which signals that the starch granules have fully swollen and trapped the free water.
