Learn How to Make the Best Black Forest Cake at Home: 2 Recipes That Will Make a Spectacular Cake, Plus an Eggless Recipe

Ingredients

• flour- 1 1/3cup
• cocoa powder- 2/3 cup
• baking soda- 2tsp
• baking powder- 1tsp
• salt- 1 tsp
• sugar- 2 cups
• eggs- 2 large
• vegetable oil- 1/2 cup
• vanilla extract- 2 tsp
• buttermilk- 1 cup
• hot water- 1 cup

Ingredients

• Canned cherries- 1 cup
• reserved juice from the drained cherries- 1/4 cup
• Sugar- 1/2 cup
• cornstarch- 1/8 cup
• Vanilla extract- 1/2 tsp

Ingredients

• Heavy cream- 3 cups (cold)
• powdered sugar- 1/2 cup (sifted)

Ingredients

• chocolate shavings- 200gms
• fresh whole cherries

Method

• Preheat the oven to 175 degree Celsius before you head out with the preparation. Butter and dust two 8-inch baking pans with flour and keep ready.
• Take a large bowl and combine the dry ingredients. These include the Flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. For best results, it is always recommended that you sieve through the dry ingredients of the cake. This should remove any impurities in the ingredients and also help in combining the ingredients well. Set this aside.
• In another bowl, add the eggs and beat well. To this, add milk, oil, vanilla extract and buttermilk. After combining well, add the hot water little by little and mix well. Please make sure that the water isn’t too hot as it will get the eggs cooked in the mixing process! Whisk until smooth.
• To the dry ingredients, you can now add the egg mix in small batches. Always be careful to only fold in the ingredients smoothly and not overbeat. The batter may be lumpy at first, but gently mix the ingredients till smooth.
• Pour the batter into the prepared baking pans. Bake the cakes in the oven for around 30 to 35 minutes. The baking time may differ depending on the oven used. You can also insert a skewer or toothpick into the cake to check if it is cooked. The inserted skewer should come out clean with a few crumbs. Once done, the cakes should be cooled on a wire rack. It is recommended that you place the cakes in the refrigerator for a while before cutting them.
• Cut the cakes in horizontal halves.

Method

• Drain the cherries and separate it from the juice.
• Now reserve ¼ cup of the drained juice.
• Combine the reserved juice, drained cherries, sugar and cornstarch in a sauce pan.
• Cook over low heat till all the ingredients are mixed well. The syrup should thicken to form the cherry filling.
• Keep on stirring continuously
• Take the pan off the flame. Add the vanilla extract to the saucepan and combine well.
• Always cool the cherry filling well before using.

Method

• Add heavy cream and powdered sugar to a whisking bowl.
• Beat well with a stand mixer or a hand mixer till stiff peaks are formed.
• Always make sure that the bowl and the whisker are chilled in the freezer before use.
• Set aside 1 ½ cups of the frosting for decoration of the black forest cake.

Method

• Take the halved chocolate cake layers and brush off the loose crumbs.
• Place one layer of the chocolate cake on a flat surface.
• Spread evenly a generous amount of the whipped cream frosting on it.
• Top the layer with a spread of the cherry filling.
• Repeat the same process with the next two layers of the chocolate cake.
• Now cover the sides and top of the assembled cake with the frosting.
• You can also use a piping bag with a flower tip to decorate the top of the cake with the frosting.
• Cover the sides and the top of the cake with the chocolate shavings.
• Place fresh cherries evenly on the cake.

Now, that are done with the making of our black forest cake, let us get into some interesting facts about this amazing dessert.

• The black forest cake is one of the top ten cakes that are the most famous and very popular around the world.
• The German pastry chef Josef Keller is said to have invented the modern version of the black forest cake in 1915.
• In 2006, K and U bakery in Germany set the Guinness world record by baking the biggest black forest cake ever. It weighed a whopping 3000kgs!
• The white forest cake is derived from the black forest cake and is made from predominantly the same ingredients. The chocolate cake in the black forest cake is replaced with white sponge cakes (basically leaving the cocoa powder away from the recipe!). The dark chocolate shavings are replaced with white chocolate shavings. The assembly and main steps in the preparation are quite much similar to that of our beloved black forest cake!
• One single slice of the typical black forest cake gives 441 calories! Yikes, that is a lot of calories for you to burn down if you are a conscious weight watcher. In fact, it takes more than 2 hours of brisk walking to burn that much calories! So, consider this amazing cake as yummy occasional treat and be careful not to consume too much of it.
• March 28 is celebrated as the National Black forest day in many parts of the world.
• The cherries are replaced with strawberries in the black forest cake to give an interesting spin to the traditional cake. The cherry filling or cherry compote is replaced with a strawberry filling.

Eggless chocolate cake

Ingredients

• All-purpose flour – 1 ½ cups
• Unsweetened cocoa powder- ½ cup
• Granulated white sugar- 1 cup
• Baking soda- 1 tsp
• Salt- ¼ tsp
• Milk- 1 cup
• White vinegar- 1 tbsp
• Refined vegetable oil- ½ cup
• Vanilla extract- 1 tsp
• Water – 2 tbsp (optional/ only if needed)

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven at 350F degrees and prepare the baking pans.
• Combine the flour and cocoa powder in a large bowl. Sift them through a strainer.
• Then add sugar, baking soda and salt. Mix well.
• In a cup, add the milk and white vinegar. Keep this aside for five minutes.
• The milk should curdle up within a few minutes. Add the oil and vanilla extract to this.
• Stir well.
• Add this mix to the dry ingredients mix little by little and combine well.
• If the batter seems too thick, then you may add the water to make it smooth.
• Never overbeat the batter. Make sure to only gently fold in the ingredients.
• Transfer the cake batter to the baking pans.
• Bake the cakes at 350F degrees till done. You can insert a skewer or a tooth pick into the cake to check if it is baked.
• Once baked, cool the cakes well on a wire rack. You can also chill the cakes in the refrigerator for a while.
• Cut the cakes into horizontal halves.