The Black Forest Cake is a traditional German dessert that is a must for many special occasions, from a wedding anniversary to a birthday celebration. Black Forest Gateau is traditionally made with layers of chocolate sponge cake soaked in cherry syrup or kirsch with whipped cream and cherries. By the way, have you already tried my iconic Sacher Torte or Bee Sting Cake?
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Why You Will Love This Cherry Cake Recipe
- It's Hits the Tri-Fecta of Flavors & Textures! Dense, rich chocolate, tart cherries, and light fluffy whipped cream.
- Truly a Cake Showstopper! This Black Forest chocolate cake looks as beautiful as it tastes.
- All-Occasion Cake. Enjoy this cake for birthdays, celebrations, or simply as an indulgent dessert to end an evening with friends.
Want to try out some more amazing European cake recipes? You're going to love this Esterházy Torte from Hungary and this classic Chocolate Mousse Cake.
What is Black Forest Cake?
Black Forest Cherry Cake, or Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte as it is called in German, is a traditional German multi-layered chocolate and cherry torte that was first created in the Black Forest region of Germany. This popular cake has been enjoyed by locals and tourists alike for many decades.
It's known for its chocolate sponge cake layers and whipped cream topped with tart cherries to give it a distinct sweet-tart flavor profile. Traditionally, this cake consists of three or four cake layers with whipped cream and cherry filling between each layer and covering the outside.
The taste can be described as richly chocolaty from the dark cocoa powder used in the sponges with an essence of tartness from the tart cherries. The whipped cream frosting gives it a light mouthfeel that brings everything together.
Ingredients
Most of the baking ingredients are commonly found but here are the main ingredients that require a bit more explanation and are essential to the preparation of your cake.
- Cocoa Powder: It's essential to use dutch-processed cocoa powder because in Europe this is the type of cocoa you will find in the store. Any original German baking recipe or German cakes that mentions cocoa, is talking about dutch-processed cocoa. Do no substitute with natural cocoa powder as it will not work the same in this recipe.
- Cherries: You want to use pitted sour cherries, also called Morello cherries, or red tart cherries in water. You will use both the cherries in the cake and the liquid to make your cherry syrup. The best substitute for canned sour cherries and canned the liquid from the can is to use fresh or frozen (must be thawed beforehand) cherries and cherry juice.
- Kirsch: The traditional German recipe uses Kirschwasser, a transparent brandy made from Morello cherries. But if you can't find it any cherry liqueur, rum, or brandy will work just as well for a Kirsch substitute. Consider using a suitable substitute for brandy if desired.
- Stabilized Whipped Cream: This helps keep the cake in shape for days and ensures the cake layers don't slide off. It entails whipping your cream until soft peaks form, adding sugar, and whipping again until stiff peaks form. The sugar stabilizes the whipped cream frosting and is therefore known as stabilized whipped cream.
For the full ingredient list and the quantities you need of each, check the recipe card further down the page.
How to Make Black Forest Cake
There are a few main steps involved in making this German chocolate cherry cake recipe. We're breaking it down step by step for you in this section along with a few images so you can follow along.
Step 1: Make the Chocolate Cake.
- Step 1: Mix the eggs, sugar, butter, and vanilla until creamy using an electric mixer.
- Step 2: Sift in the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt and mix just until well combined.
- Step 3: Pour the cake batter into a parchment paper-lined baking pan and bake. Then let cool completely.
Step 2: Make the Cherry Kirsch Syrup
- Step 1: Stir together the cornstarch and canned sour cherry water in a small bowl and set it aside.
- Step 2: Bring the canned sour cherry water, kirsch, and sugar to a simmer over medium heat in a heavy-bottomed saucepan.
- Step 3: Once it simmers, add the cornstarch mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until it thickens like syrup and covers the back of a spoon.
- Step 4: Pour the syrup over the sour cherries and let it cool completely.
Step 3: Make the Whipped Cream
- Step 1: Beat the whipping cream on medium-high speed until soft peaks form in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer with a whisk attachment,. Add the sugar and mix until stiff peaks form. Don't overmix or it will curdle.
Step 4: Assemble the Cake
- Step 1: Cut the cake twice horizontally so that you have three cake layers. Place the bottom cake layer on a cake turner and brush it with cherry syrup.
- Step 2: Spread with whipped cream and pipe, or spoon an additional ring of whipped cream around the edges. Use about ⅙ of the cream in total.
- Step 3: Spoon half of the sour cherries and syrup on top of the cream but inside the whipped cream ring. The ring ensures that the cherry filling stays in the cake and that no syrup runs out on the sides.
- Step 4: Spoon more whipped cream onto the cherries and distribute evenly on top.
- Step 5: Place the second cake base on top and repeat.
- Step 6: Place the third cake layer on top and distribute the remaining whipped cream over the entire cake.
- Step 7: Chill in the refrigerator. Before serving, decorate with chocolate shavings, cherries, and additional whipped cream to your liking.
PRO TIP: Make sure to brush the cherry syrup on each layer of cake.
How to Store
Storing: The cake will stay fresh for three days if stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator. You shouldn't leave the cake on the counter because of the whipped frosting. Keep it in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Freezing: You can freeze this chocolate cherry cake. Make sure to chill the cake in the fridge for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. Then place it in the freezer for 1 hour, wrap in plastic foil, and place in freezer bags or containers. It freezes well for up to 3 months. To serve, simply unwrap and place in an airtight container in the refrigerator the night before.
Expert Tips for Success
- Don't Over Bake the Cake Layers. Every oven is different, and I can only provide an average baking time as it will vary from oven to oven.
- Make a Day Ahead. This cake is best when baked and assembled one day in advance and kept in the refrigerator overnight before serving. This gives the chocolate cake layers time to soak up the delicious cherry syrup and you will be rewarded with moist cake layers. The whipped cream frosting also needs time to set completely.
- Avoid Using Maraschino, Black, or Sweet Cherries as well as Cherry Pie Filling. You will not have the same results as you would using tart cherries. It will be much sweeter and taste completely different.
Recipe FAQs
The authentic black forest cake recipe uses chocolate sponge layers made with a high amount of eggs, very little to no fat, and no other wet ingredients such as milk, buttermilk, sour cream, or similar are used. It's very different from regular American chocolate cake, which is soft and moist. In German-speaking countries, cakes tend to be drier than their American counterparts. In this recipe it makes sense that the chocolate cake layers are less moist and soft because they are soaked with cherry syrup. If you use regular American chocolate cake layers, the whole cake will end up soggy and fall apart after a short time.
If you prefer to make this cake kid-friendly or alcohol free you can use cherry juice instead.
Dutch-processed cocoa powder needs baking powder to react in your baked goods and natural cocoa powder needs baking soda to react and make your baked goods rise. So if you swap the dutch-processed cocoa powder for natural cocoa powder, you will end up with flat cake layers unless you swap parts of the baking powder for baking soda. Since this is not a common practice with this recipe, I really have to advise against it.
In American and British English, you will most often hear the term Black Forest cake followed by Black Forest gateau. Torte and gateau translate as cake but are used differently depending on the origin of the cake recipe or the preparation of the cake layers. Since this recipe comes from Germany, it is a torte (the German word for cake). In Germany, festively decorated layer cakes filled with frosting are all referred to as torte.
More Festive Cakes to Try
If you are looking for a show-stopping layer cake for your next anniversary or birthday party, you've come to the right place. I'm sure you will love the following cake ideas.
If you tried this Traditional Black Forest Cake or any cake on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Recipe
Traditional German Black Forest Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Chocolate cake
- 6 large eggs
- 1 cup granulated white sugar
- ¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 vanilla bean* (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- ½ cup dutch-processed cocoa powder, spooned and leveled
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Cherry filling
- 1 lbs canned sour cherries in water, drained (don't discard all the water)
- 4 teaspoon cornstarch
- ½ cup water from canned sour cherries, divided
- ¼ cup kirsch
- ⅜ cup granulated white sugar
Whipped cream frosting
- 3 cups heavy whipping cream
- ¼ cup granulated white sugar
Decoration
- additional whipped cream, chocolate shaves, and cherries to your liking
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 320 °F (160°C). Line the bottom and the sides of a 9-inch (23cm) springform pan with parchment paper and set aside. To line a springform pan with parchment paper, the easiest way is to cut out a circle for the bottom and strips for the sides.
- In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, mix the eggs, sugar, butter, and vanilla for about 3 minutes until creamy.
- Sift in the flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt and mix just until well combined, about 1 minute. Pour the cake batter into the prepared baking pan and bake for about 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let it cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then remove from the pan and transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Place the drained sour cherries in a heatproof bowl and set aside.
- In a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and ¼ cup of the canned sour cherry water and set aside.
- In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring ¼ cup of the canned sour cherry water, kirsch, and sugar to a simmer over medium heat. Once it simmers, add the cornstarch mixture and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly, until it thickens like syrup and covers the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat and pour over the sour cherries. Let it cool completely.
- In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer with a whisk attachment, beat the whipping cream on medium-high speed until soft peaks form, about 2-3 minutes. Then add the sugar and mix until stiff peaks form, about 1-2 minutes. Don't overmix or it will curdle.
- Cut the cake twice horizontally so that you have three cake layers.
- Place the bottom cake layer on a cake turner and brush it with cherry syrup. Spread with whipped cream and spread an additional ring of whipped cream around the edges. Use about ⅙ of the cream in total. Then spoon half of the sour cherries and syrup on top of the cream but inside the whipped cream ring. The ring ensures that the cherry filling stays in the cake and that no syrup runs out on the sides. Then spoon more whipped cream onto the cherries and distribute evenly on top (another ⅙ of the cream, so that now a total of about ⅓ of the cream has been used). Place the second cake layer on top and repeat.
- Place the third cake layer on top and distribute the remaining ⅓ of the whipped cream over the entire cake and around the sides to lightly frost the outside of the cake. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
- Before serving, decorate with chocolate shavings, cherries, and additional whipped cream to your liking. Store the cake in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Notes
Video
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Audrey Wentzlaff
I am making the cake for christmas. I have to travel 2 and a half hours to my children. If I freeze the cake ahead of time how long will it take to thaw? I think it will travel better if more solid.
Sabine
I always let my cake thaw in the fridge overnight. It takes a couple of hours to fully thaw.
Amanda Sullivan
what brand cocoa powder is Dutch I'm googling but I'm now even more confused. if it helps I'm in the uk.
Amanda x
Sabine
If you live in the UK the regular cocoa powder in the store will be Dutch-processed one. There are differences depending on where you live, like in the US, for example, the standard is natural cocoa powder, in the EU, Dutch-processed is standard. So Dutch-processed refers to the kind of cocoa powder and not to a brand. Hope that helps!
Kendra Carlstedt
I could only find canned cherries in light syrup from Trader Joe’s. The others would have been pie filling. Should I leave out the sugar for the cherries or just rinse them well and make as the recipe states?
Sabine
You could use cherry pie filling and cook it with kirsch for a few minutes until thickened up. It won’t be as the original but I’m it’s delicious as well.
Deborah Toth
So happy to have found this recipe. Although the cake was delicious it didn’t rise very much which made for very thin layers. Is this typical? I wonder if I did something wrong. Should the eggs be very foamy or maybe stiff? In any case it was simple and delicious and I will happily try again.
Ian
The black forest cakes don't leaven very much with modern leavening agents. The old German recipes would require that you whisk the batter fast until it was fluffy then you would put it into the oven immediately, that is how the cake would rise. My advice would be, pre sifting the dry ingredients onto a parchment paper. Prepare your pan and be ready to put it into the oven as soon as you finished mixing. Whisk the batter at a high speed, until the wet ingredients are incorporated 2-3 minutes. Put the dry ingredients in and incorporate them. Once incorporated pour into the pan ASAP and put it into the oven. If you let the batter sit it will become less fluffy. The altitude you are at also affects how much the cake is leavened by baking powder and salt so doing this can help minimize the shortcomings of the baking powder.
Sabine
That is great advice! Thank you so much for your input!
Katie
I have made this recipe twice now and my German in-laws absolutely love it. Lovely, lovely cake. Thank you.
Sabine
Thank you so much, Katie! I'm super happy that your in-laws like it! It's a very delicious cake though.
Daniela
Hallochen - would you say we could substitute jarred Morello
cherries in this recipe (and use the water in the jar for the cherry water?) Vielen Dank, Daniela
Sabine
Hi Daniela, Yes, that is absolutely fine! Happy baking!
Ielhaam Booley
Hi I tried this recipe as a surprise birthday cake for my boyfriend who is from the Blackforest in Germany, I sourced all the ingredients from a German grocer here in South Africa but unfortunately my cake did not rise... I wiil attempt again and hopefully it rises...
Sabine
I'm sorry that it didn't rise. Please make sure to use just dutch-processed cocoa powder when using baking powder. Natural cocoa powder does not interact with baking powder but with baking soda. If you have just natural cocoa powder available then use 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 baking soda.
Yvonne
I am in Canada, and I would like to know what brand of sour cherries did you use? they are dark in your picture. I made a black forest cake many years ago and I remember it turned out great, but I have no idea what recipe I used back then, I was in high school. I want to try your recipe as think I can manage it. I've already tracked down where I can get kirsh, I just need to know what type of cherries you used.
Sabine
I'm currently living in Austria and I bought any retail brand sour cherries. So no popular brand. In German, they are called "Weichseln". I hope that helps.
Yvonne
I had to search 4 stores in alberta where I am, and finally found a jar of sour cherries at one place, so I am now going to try this. While I don't mind the cakes being made with maraschino cherries, I just feel this recipe would be better.
Yvonne
May I ask what type of cherries you used for the top with stem? I might have a hard time finding those at this time of year.
Alisha
My husband always loved the ice cream Cherry Garcia so I thought he would love Black Forest cake. He’s never had it! It tastes great. I made two batches, and still didn’t seem to get a rise out of it. It it still was great!! Thank you for the recipe.
Sabine
Thank you so much, Alisha! I'm happy that you like the recipe!
Doris
After slicing the three cooled down layer’s of the cake, i sprinkle clear Kirsch generously on the first bottom layer.
I’ve always made the cake a day before an event (birthday, etc.).
Keep it in the fridge, and take out about a half hour before serving, it helps the ingredients to soak and breath.
Your recipe is very similar to the one I got from my mom. Love it
Sabine
I'm so happy to hear that, Doris! Thank you so much for your nice feedback!