Black Forest Cake Recipe

Dobby

8 years ago

I was intrigued by Black forest cake the very first time i tried it. It was soft and kinda melts in the mouth once it gets in. The flavors are also out of this world if you know what i mean. As i prepped for this cake, I couldn’t help but feel nostalgic about my early cake making days.
I mean, i actually started dobby’s signature making cakes for lots and lots of people back then (tries to hold back a tear) without an oven too. If you intend making a chocolate cake this season probably for next month…wink…wink…I highly recommend trying this one.

So, for the chocolate cake, i made a genoise sponge covered with whipped cream, cherry and raspberry topping (although the original version calls for just cherry topping). The cake isn’t meant to be sugary sweet but more like a plain dessert. Turns out it’s super easy to make too because you really can’t go wrong with this at all once you follow the recipe below. Don’t forget to follow me on Facebook or Instagram for exciting updates. Don’t forget to bookmark ans share this page for later too.

How to make Black Forest Genoise / Cake
Prep Time: 30 mins (excluding assembling time)
Baking Time: 25 mins
Serves: 8 Large slices
Category: Cakes
Region: International

Ingredients:::

For the Chocolate Genoise/Cake

• 1 cup All purpose flour

• 1/3 cup Unsweetened Cocoa powder

• 2/3 cup Granulated white sugar

• 5 tbsp. Unsalted butter (melted)

• 4 Large Eggs

• A pinch salt

• 1 tsp vanilla flavor essence

Click Here for cup to gram measurements

For the Whipped Cream Frosting

• 2 cups Whipping cream (sweetened)

• 1 tsp. Vanilla flavor essence

For decoration & filling

• Candied Cherries

• Frozen Raspberries – Optional

• Dark chocolate shavings

Directions:::

To prepare the frozen raspberries/ cherries

For this, i used frozen raspberries and candied cherries. The frozen raspberries is usually sold unsweetened but we’d need a sweet syrup for the cake. To make the syrup , heat up 2 cups of water with 1 cup of sugar. Once it starts to thicken, turn off the burner. Allow mixture to cool to room temperature before turning into a jar and adding the defrosted raspberries. You could keep this refrigerated till you’re ready to use.

Same applies if you’re using frozen cherries also but for this, i used candied cherries instead. There are some candied cherries and raspberries sold prepacked in syrup. If you get that, you could skip making this.

To prepare the Chocolate Genoise

Step 1: Preheat the oven to about 180 degree C (350 degree F).

Step 2: In a medium sized bowl, sift the flour cocoa powder and salt together – Set this aside.

Step 3: In a heat proof bowl whisk the eggs and the granulated sugar together. Pour some water into a saucepan and leave to simmer. Now gently place the heatproof bowl with whisked eggs and sugar mixture over the simmering water and start to whisk with a manual whisk constantly for about 5 minutes till it’s lukewarm making sure you don’t cook the egg mixture. Transfer this to a larger bowl and beat on high speed with your electric mixer till the mixture gets thick. While making a genoise cake, there’s no chemical leavening agent i.e baking powder or bicarbonate of soda needed, so the only rising agent will come from the air whisked in at this stage. Millions of tiny air bubbles will become suspended in the mixture as you whisk.

After around 5 minutes beating really fast with an electric whisk, it’d get really thick, pale and aerated. After 7-10 minutes of determined hand whisking, it’s ready as it reaches what is known as the “ribbon stage”. This is when the whisk leaves a ribbon-like trail of the mixture as it’s lifted out. This stays for a couple of seconds on the surface before sinking back into the mixture.

Step 4: Gently fold in the melted butter, vanilla extract and flour mixture and mix with a spatula or whisk.

Step 5: Prepare the pan by greasing it with a little butter and dusting it with flour making sure all the inner parts of the pan is fully covered. Gently pour the cake batter into the pan and smoothen the top.

Step 6: Place the pan in the pre-heated oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Leave to cool on a wire rack before turning the cake out so it comes out in one piece.

While the cake cools, lets prepare the whipping cream

Preparation of the whipping cream. For a detailed description on whipping cream, click Here

For this cake, i used Danica Non-Dairy Whipping cream. To prepare, pour the whipping cream into a bowl If you’re using an electric mixer, start with medium speed before speeding up once it starts to get foamy to prevent splattering. If using a whisk, beat the cream quickly till it starts to get foamy. Once it thickens and soft peaks start to form, add the vanilla essence and whip some more. Till it stiffens (Just a little). Place this in the refrigerator till we’re ready to use.

Assembling the black forest cake

Step 1: Turn the cake onto the plate you intend assembling it on. With a sharp knife, cut the cake horizontally into 2 layers. Turn over the top layer and place it on a plate on which you are going to assemble the cake.

Step 2: Remember the syrup we made? Bring that out from the refrigerator and spoon about 2/4 cup of the syrup on the top of one slice to moisten.

Step 3: Take about 1 cup of the whipped cream and spread it evenly on one part of the moistened cake. Now place the raspberries over the whipped cream and spread evenly.

Step 4: Moisten the second cut layer of cake using a spoon with 1/4 cup of the syrup we made earlier then place it over the cherries with the moistened side down and gently press the cake for it to align properly. Now brush or spoon some of the syrup over the top of the cake.

Step 5: Get the whipped cream out of the refrigerator and spread evenly over the top and sides of the cake with a spatula. Make sure you smoothen so it’d look neat.

Step 6: Place some of the whipped cream in an icing pump or bag and pipe round as shown below. Get the chocolate out from the refrigerator. Using a potato peeler or sharp knife, shave the chocolate. Use this to decorate the cake as shown.

Step 7: Cover the cake and refrigerate the for several hours or overnight. Serve chilled. The cake can only be stored in the refrigerator and it keeps well for about 2-3 days.