Recipe: Black Forest cake without the Black Forest hassle
The easiest way to that beautiful chocolate cherry taste
There are few better combinations than chocolate and cherry. Forget strawberries and cream, apple and cinnamon, lemon and lime – no thank you. I'll have a classic Black Forest any day.
So when I asked my Dad what kind of Birthday cake he would like and he responded with "surprise me", it was a good excuse to get those flavours on the go again. My Dad loves cherries, I'm not totally selfish.
I also wasn't in a position to faff about, having left it till the last minute, so Black Forest he was not getting. Instead, I improvised with my simple Vicky sponge recipe, some shop bought cherry jam, and some cream.
The simplest chocolate cake you can make but with the lightest, most satisfying texture. It went down a treat.
Easier, but just as impressive
Ingredients
- 200g golden caster sugar
- 200g unsalted butter
- 200g self raising flour
- 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons of whole milk
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 4 free range, organic eggs
- Cherry jam – shop bought or home made
- 200ml double cream
- 4 tablespoons of icing sugar (optional)
Instructions
- Butter and line two cake tins and preheat the oven to 170C.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, the golden caster sugar, the butter, the milk, the cocoa powder, the vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt. Then mix in your eggs, one at a time until it's fully combined.
- Divide the mixture evenly between the two tins.
- Bake time will vary depending on the size of your tins, but I used two 12 inch silicon moulds and they took around 25 mins. Give them 20 mins and check them, they are ready when you poke them with a knife and it comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and allow to fully cool before taking them out the tins.
- If you're making jam, do that now as that will also have to cool before use.
- Whip the cream in a large bowl till it's stiff enough to hold its shape. If you like cream on its own, it's done, if not, add a couple of tablespoons of icing sugar and whip in for a minute. Add more if you like it really sweet.
Assembly
- This is a sandwich cake so you will need to choose which cake goes on the bottom. If it has domed significantly in the oven, you should even the top of it of with a bread knife and immediately eat the off cut.
- It's far easier to put the jam on first so put on as much jam as you can bear to have on the cake. This will depend how much flavour you want, but I use 'go big or go home' as a motto with cherry flavour and it has never let me down yet. Spread it right to the edges and try to get it as even as possible.
- Dollop the cream on top of this and spread this right to the edges too.
- Place the second cake on top and decorate however you fancy. I went with a dusting of icing sugar but you can be as elaborate as you like – bonus points for more cherries.
Recipe Notes
This is a very lazy version, I admit it, but lazy = efficient! It took no time at all and everyone loved it so it's win win.
Recipe by
Me
You can easily half each of the cakes and make this a four layered cake, to squeeze in extra flavour!
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Comments (7)
This looks delicious Hayley! Black forest cake is one of my favourites.
It was so tasty
Oh, you saved me time looking for a black forest cake recipe! 😋. I will do this.
Awesome, let me know how it goes!
Will do ☺️
I am from the Black Forest and I must say you’re absolutely right. The combination is great but baking the traditional cake can really be annoying. I‘ll try your recipe soon!
Ah, let me know how it goes, I hope you love it!