BLACK FOREST CHOCOLATE CAKE

Michelle Sam

A four layer traditional German supermoist chocolate cake with whipped cream and sour cherry with kirsch filling.

5 from 1 vote

Prep Time 40

Cook Time 20

Cooling and decorating 3

Total Time 4

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 16 slices

Calories 597 kcal

700 g Sour pitted cherries in water or light syrup Can be canned, bottled or frozen. If using frozen cherries, use 1½ cups of sour cherry juice for the filling.
9 whole cherries Remove 9 whole cherries for decoration.
2 Tbsp cherry juice for cornstarch slurry from separated cherries or sour cherry juice.
1½ cup cherry juice for cherry filling from separated cherries or sour cherry juice.
2 tsp corn starch
2-4 Tbsp kirsch or liquer of your choice

Preheat the oven to 350° fahrenheit (177° celcius)
Line 2 9" pans with parchment paper to prevent the cakes from sticking to the bottom of the pans.
Sift dry ingredients together to ensure that all the soda and salt are uniformally distributed.
270 g cake flour or all purpose flour, 2 tsp baking soda, ½ tsp sea salt
Melt unsweetened chocolate chips in a double boiler, stirring occasionally and watching carefully so that it does not burn. Remove when melted.
180 g UNSWEETENED chocolate chips
With an electric or stand mixer, beat the butter and sugar until well combined.
113 g unsalted butter, 480 g brown sugar
Add the eggs, one at a time.
3 large eggs
Beat at high speed for 5 minutes until light and fluffy.
Lower speed and add the vanilla and melted chocolate until combined.
1 tsp pure vanilla extract, 180 g UNSWEETENED chocolate chips
Stir in the dry ingredients and sour cream, alternating between the two until combined.
240 grams 2% Greek yoghurt
Stir in the hot coffee and mix until combined. Batter will be thin.
1 cup hot coffee
Immediately pour equal amounts of batter into the prepared cake pans.
Tap the cake pans to ensure that the surface is level and the cakes will bake evenly.
Bake for 25-32 minutes until done. Cake should be domed with a few cracks. Be careful not to overbake!
Cool completely before decorating. Prepare cherry filling and cream while cooling.

Separate the juice from the cherries, placing cherry juice into a small saucepan.
700 g Sour pitted cherries in water or light syrup
Remove 9 plump whole cherries for topping.
Remove 2 TBSP of cherry juice and place in small bowl. Pour remaing juice into small saucepan.
2 Tbsp cherry juice, 1½ cup cherry juice
Combine the 2TBSP cherry juice in small bowl with 2 tsp of cornstarch to make a slurry.
2 tsp corn starch
Over medium heat, bring the cherry juice to a simmer. Stir the slurry and pour into saucepan, stirring constantly until thickened.
Remove from heat and pour the thickened cherry filling over the tart cherries.
Add the kirsch or liqueur of your choice. Allow to cool and thicken.
2-4 Tbsp kirsch or liquer of your choice

In a stand mixer, beat whipping cream
3 cups whipping cream
Add vanilla and POWDERED sugar.
1½ tsp pure vanilla extract, 3 Tbsp powdered sugar
Whip until cream reaches stiff peaks.

Use a peeler, shave chocolate, insulating the chocolate from melting by holding a towel around the chocolate bar.
115 grams Dark chocolate bar for shavings

When cakes are cooled, remove from pans.
Remove parchment paper and slice each cake in half, creating 4 even discs.
Add cream and ⅓ cherry mixture for each layer. (3 layers with filling)
3 cups whipping cream, 700 g Sour pitted cherries in water or light syrup
The top-most cake layer should be a flat bottom layer. This will make the cake appear more uniform and aesthetically more pleasing.
To decorate the outside of the cake, create a crumb coat by spreading a thin layer of cream over the entire cake to hold all the crumbs.
If time permits, allow the cake to rest before adding the final coat.
Add final cream coat.
Place cake on pedestal stand on baking tray when applying chocolate shavings.
Decorate with chocolate shavings and whole cherries. (Pipe rosettes on top of cake before adding the cherries if desired!)
115 grams Dark chocolate bar for shavings, 9 whole cherries

Keyword Chocolate cake, Supermoist cake