Just in time for Valentine's Day - a Traditional Black Forest Cake! This classic German dessert combines layers of moist chocolate sponge cake, whipped cream (dairy optional), and tart cherries. I love it because it's not too sweet!
I have adapted this recipe from Gerhild Fulson's "Authentic Black Forest Cake" to make it gluten-free with a dairy-free option as well (see notes). If you're not avoiding dairy or gluten, you can visit the original recipe here!
Traditional Black Forest Cake (GF/DF option)
See notes for a dairy-free option.
Servings: 16
Cake Ingredients:
6 large eggs, separated
7/8 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons lukewarm water
2/3 cup Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Baking Flour (gluten-free)
1/2 cup arrowroot starch
1/2 cup cocoa powder
Filling and Decoration Ingredients:
1 ½ 24-ounce (680-gram) jars pitted morello sour or tart whole cherries
4 teaspoons arrowroot starch
2 teaspoons vanilla sugar*
3 cups heavy (whipping) cream, divided**
3 pouches Dr. Oetker Whip It
3 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
3 tablespoons Kirschwasser (cherry liquer), divided (optional)
1 cup dark chocolate shavings
Directions (cake)
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 10-inch springform pan with parchment paper. Do not grease the sides of the pan.
In a large mixing bowl, beat egg whites, slowly adding sugar until stiff peaks form.
In a smaller bowl, mix egg yolks with vanilla extract and water. Fold into stiffly beaten egg white mixture,
In another bowl, mix Bob's Red Mill 1:1 baking flour, arrowroot starch, and cocoa powder. Sift over the egg mixture. Fold in gently and pour the cake batter into the lined pan.
Bake for about 35 minutes, just until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Run a knife around the outer ring to loosen the cake. Remove outer ring and invert onto a wire rack. Remove parchment paper. When the cake is cold, cover with a towel and let stand for about 2 hours.
Directions (filling)
Drain the cherries, saving the liquid. Measure out 1¼ cups of the liquid (you can add some water or juice if you don't have enough). Pour the liquid into a small saucepan along with arrowroot starch and vanilla sugar*. Bring to a gentle boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, 1-2 minutes. Once thinkened, remove from the heat and add 1 tablespoon of Kirschwasser (optional).
Set aside 16 cherries for decorating, and stir the rest into the saucepan. Let it cool.
Whip 1 cup of cream with 1 pouch of Whip It, adding 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar once peaks begin to form.
Directions (to assemble the cake)
Cut the cake into 3 layers. Drizzle or spray Kirschwasser over the layers (optional).
Place bottom cake layer onto a serving plate. Put a cake ring or springform ring around the cake. Pike whipped cream around the perimeter of the first layer and spread half the cherry mixture within the cream circle. Add the second layer of cake and repeat - piping whipped cream and adding the remainder of the cherries into the center. Add the third cake layer.
Cover with plastic wrap or a cake dome and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Whip the remaining 2 cups or cream with 2 pouches Whip It, adding 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar once peaks begin to form.
Remove cake ring. Put some whipped cream into a pastry bag tip of choice. Cover the top and sides of the entire cake with remaining whipped cream. Pipe 16 rosettes on top. Decorate with cherries and pat dark chocolate shavings around the side of the cake.
Enjoy this almost traditional gluten-free Black Forest cake. Thanks again to Gerhild Fulson, who created the original recipe, please check out her website "Just Like Oma".
Notes
*You may omit sugar in the cherries if sugar appears in the ingredients list of your cherries already.
**You can replace heavy whipping cream with coconut cream for a dairy-free option. I highly recommend keeping the coconut cream in the fridge overnight. If you can put the mixing bowl and beaters in the freezer for a couple hours before mixing, this will help the coconut cream to stay firm. Here's the coconut whipping cream I use - https://chasorganics.com/products/coconut-whipping-cream.
Want more recipe inspo? Check out my Instagram here!
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