Black Forest Cake

A cake filled with sweet and tart decadence in every bite.

Black Forest Cake is an old classic; Chocolate Cake, Cherry Filling, and a Whipped Cream frosting. In my version, I used tart cherries for my cherry filling and wrapped a beautiful chocolate cage around it for a little bit more pizzazz and let’s be honest….more chocolate!

Chocolate Cake:

1 ½ Cup Flour

1 ½ tsp Baking Soda

½ tsp Salt

1 tsp Vanilla

2 Cups Sugar

11 Tablespoons Butter-Melted

1 Cup Milk

2 Eggs

1 Cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

1 Cup Hot Water

In a large bowl mix flour, baking soda, salt, and sugar together

Add melted butter, milk, and eggs and mix until just combined

In a separate bowl combine cocoa powder and water until thoroughly combined (Let this mixture sit for a couple minutes)

Add the cocoa mixture to the rest of the cake batter and mix until just combined (The batter will be thin)

Carefully pour batter into 2 greased 9 inch round cake pans lined with parchment paper

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out with a few crumbs

*****You will want to put a medium size mixing bowl in the fridge at this time. This will be used for the whipped cream*****

Cherry Filling:

2 Cups Tart Cherries with the juice, Pitted

3 Tablespoons Sugar

3 Tablespoons Cornstarch

3 Tablespoons Cold Water

In a small saucepan add cherries with juice and sugar and heat on medium heat

In a small bowl combine cornstarch and water and mix until combined ( this mixture is called a slurry and is a great thickener)

While stirring, slowly pour the slurry into the cherries

Whisk until mixture comes to a boil ( this is the point the slurry will activate its thickening magic and will start to thicken the cherry juice)

Remove from heat and let cool completely

Whipped Cream Topping:

2 Cups Heavy Cream

1 Cup Powdered Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla

Add the heavy cream to the chilled bowl

Whisk on medium high speed until thickened

Slowly add sugar and vanilla and continue to whisk on low until just combined

Assembling the Cake:

On 1 of the cooled cake layers, add a thick border of whipped cream around edge (if you do not have a piping bag have no fear! Simply add the whipped cream to a large sealable plastic bag and cut a small tip of the corner of the bag off.

Add 1/2 of the cooled cherry mixture to the center of the cake inside of the whipped cream border

Place the 2nd cake layer on top

Cover the entire cake with the whipped cream and smooth with offset spatula or the back of a spoon

Using a star tip or a plastic bag pipe swirls of whipped cream around the edge of the cake

Carefully add the remaining 1 cup of cherry filling to the center

Chill cake for at least 1 hour before serving

If you’re feeling ambitious the chocolate cage is simple to make

Chocolate Cage:

2 Bars of Semi-Sweet Chocolate, Melted

Cut a sheet of parchment paper to match the size of your cake’s height and width (you will want to be sure it is long enough to wrap around your cake)

Melt the chocolate and add to piping bag or the handy dandy plastic bag with a small tip cut off the corner

Pipe the chocolate on the parchment paper in a large zigzag pattern on a diagonal in one direction

Flip the paper and pipe in a large zigzag pattern on the opposite diagonal direction

Repeat this step until a cage like effect appears ( you want to be sure the cage is thick enough to hold its shape without crumbling)

Leave sit for 20 minutes on the counter to harden slightly ( you want to be sure the chocolate is hardened but still pliable)

Very carefully take the chocolate on the parchment paper and stick it on the side of the cake pressing very gently

Very carefully and slowly remove the parchment paper from the chocolate

And tada!! A beautiful and fancy looking edible decoration!