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Home » Desserts » Cakes » Black Forest Cake

Black Forest Cake

July 14, 2014 by The Simple, Sweet Life 18 Comments

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Black Forest Cake

This past week, my husband and I took a wonderful trip down to San Francisco to celebrate our anniversary. We had a huge list of places we wanted to go and things we wanted to see in our whirlwind, 2 and a 1/2 day trip! Although the obvious choices like Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge ranked high on both of our lists, the top of my list definitely had some foodie destinations, not least of which was Miette. For those of you not familiar with Miette, it’s a fantastic pastry shop with hints of vintage France. I found myself drooling over the minimalist yet decidedly elegant style of the desserts, and realizing just how true the old adage “less is more” can be. I absolutely fell in love with the “Tom Boy” cakes, which they describe as an “unfinished, yet decidedly feminine” kind of cake, a style I couldn’t help but recreate in this Black Forest Cake.

Black Forest Cake
Makes one 3-layer cake (6″ in diameter)

What you’ll need:

For the cake:
1 stick (113 grams) butter
1/2 cup milk (whole if you have it)
1 bar (100 grams) dark chocolate
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs
1 cup all purpose flour

For the cherry compote:
2 cups fresh cherries, pitted and chopped into quarters
3/4 cup light corn syrup

For the swiss meringue buttercream frosting:
3 egg whites
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
2 sticks (226 grams) butter, cold

This cake recipe is essentially the same as my super duper secret chocolate cake recipe, just half the batch size. So for instructions on how to make it, I’ll refer you to that post, rather than repeating it all here and making this post ridiculously long. This recipe makes about 3 cups of batter, so when you’re ready to bake, you’ll want about 1 cup of batter per cake. Line the bottom of your 6″ cake pans with parchment paper, and bake at 350* Fahrenheit (175* Celsius) for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let your cakes cool for about 10 minutes before turning them out, wrapping them in plastic wrap, and setting them in the refrigerator to chill. Chilled cakes are much easier to work with and to move.

fresh cherries

To make your cherry compote, combine your fresh cherries and corn syrup in a pan. Bring the mixture to a boil, and boil until the majority of the liquid has boiled off (you want about a 1/2 cup of liquid remaining). Set the compote aside to cool down and set up. If the compote doesn’t have enough liquid in it and gets too set, just add a little liquid to soften it up.

For the last piece of the actual cake making process you’ll want to make the frosting. Both the cakes and compote need some time to cool, whereas the frosting is best when used immediately. Although I could go through all the steps here to make the frosting (of which there would be not so many, but nonetheless a lot of things to say about them), I instead recommend watching this video tutorial by Dyann Bakes. She has so many good tips and advice in that video that would take up a lot of space if I tried to type them all out here.

layered chocolate cake

cherry compote filling

At this point you should have 3 layers of chilled cake, a bowl of fresh cherry compote, and a bowl of frosting, so on to assembly! Lucky us, this cake is super easy to put together! Start by trimming the edges of your cake with a serrated knife if they’re uneven. We want nice, even, round cakes for this! Fill a piping bag with your frosting and affix a large, star tip (like the Wilton 1M) to the end. Pipe right around the edge of your bottom layer of cake, getting as close to the edge as possible (we want that frosting to show through between the layers). Spread half of your cherry compote inside that ring of frosting, and fill over the top of it with more frosting. You can use a cake spatula to smooth out the inside so there are no gaps in the frosting for the compote to squeeze through (but don’t smooth out the outer ring of frosting!). Place your second layer of cake on top of the first and press lightly so that it sticks to the first. Repeat the same process with the frosting and compote for the second layer. Once you’ve gotten your top layer in place, pipe the top with lots of frosting (no cherry compote for this layer). Using a cake spatula, smooth out the center leaving just the outer edge with the tip pattern. Add a fresh cherry (or two or three…) for a garnish.

black forest cake

I don’t know about you, but I’m always on the lookout for fantastic bakeries and fantastic baked goodies. Do you have a favorite? Please share it with us in the comments below!

Happy baking!

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Filed Under: Cakes, Desserts Tagged With: Baking, black forest cake, cake, cherry, chocolate, dessert

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Comments

  1. Pink Wings says

    July 15, 2014 at 1:23 am

    Mmm this looks so yummy! I will definitely check out Miette next time I’m in San Fran. But if you go back, you need to try Dandelion and Tartine! They are my absolute favs. Thanks for the awesome recipe~

    Gina
    Pink Wings

    Reply
    • The Simple, Sweet Life says

      July 16, 2014 at 8:14 pm

      I actually JUST read about Dandelion and Tartine (of course, after we’d come back). But they’re definitely on my list of places to go now, and it’s good to know they’re as good as the article said they were. 🙂 By the way, your Lemon Berry Eclairs look divine!

      Reply
  2. MRKT (@thisismrkt) says

    July 15, 2014 at 12:26 am

    Oh. My. Gosh.
    I do believe I will be making this for myself pronto

    p.s. beautiful photos!

    Reply
    • The Simple, Sweet Life says

      July 16, 2014 at 8:11 pm

      Thank you! I hope you enjoy it! 🙂

      Reply
  3. liztiptopshape says

    July 15, 2014 at 4:26 am

    SO gorgeous!!!

    Reply
    • The Simple, Sweet Life says

      July 16, 2014 at 8:18 pm

      Thank you! 🙂

      Reply
  4. Baby June says

    July 15, 2014 at 7:10 pm

    That looks delish! Pinned. 🙂

    Reply
    • The Simple, Sweet Life says

      July 16, 2014 at 8:19 pm

      Thank you! And thanks for pinning! 🙂

      Reply
  5. Simply Kendall Rose says

    July 17, 2014 at 5:15 am

    That looks so delicious! Definitely trying this!!

    Reply
    • The Simple, Sweet Life says

      July 19, 2014 at 7:28 am

      Thank you! I hope you enjoy it! 🙂

      Reply
  6. Carrie Groneman says

    July 18, 2014 at 4:51 am

    This is so gorgeous! Featured on my fb page. Thanks for linking up at Wonderful Wed Blog Hop. Carrie, A Mother’s Shadow

    Reply
    • The Simple, Sweet Life says

      July 19, 2014 at 7:31 am

      Thanks so much for the Facebook feature! And thanks so much for hosting a fantastic link party each week! 🙂

      Reply
  7. Ana Lopes says

    July 18, 2014 at 5:05 pm

    Wow!!! This is a fabulous cake!
    Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
    Hugs from Portugal,
    Ana Love Craft
    http://www.lovecraft2012.blogspot.com

    Reply
    • The Simple, Sweet Life says

      July 19, 2014 at 7:34 am

      Thank you! I hope you have a wonderful weekend too! 🙂

      Reply
  8. Pure Grace Farms says

    July 20, 2014 at 3:49 pm

    Stopping by from the Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop. Thanks for coming by and sharing your fabulous recipe. Sharing the love to the world today and tomorrow on all my social media!
    Please come by and link up again next week!
    Blessings,
    Shari

    Reply
    • The Simple, Sweet Life says

      July 21, 2014 at 7:12 am

      Thanks so much for hosting your wonderful link party each week! I’ll definitely be stopping by to link up next week! 🙂

      Reply
  9. Pure Grace Farms says

    July 20, 2014 at 3:53 pm

    Wanted to let you know I will be featuring your beautiful blog and Facebook page on my FB page on Tuesday 9:15. I know my readers are going to love it!
    Blessings,
    Shari

    Reply
    • The Simple, Sweet Life says

      July 21, 2014 at 7:13 am

      Awww thank you so much for the feature! 😀

      Reply

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Hei på deg!

I'm Claire, the baker, blogger, sprinkle enthusiast, and cookie painter behind The Simple, Sweet Life. Whether you like simple sweets, comfort (baked) foods, or works of sugar art, you're sure to find something here to sweeten your day! Get to know me better here!

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