I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I had a lot of fun, and even though I was quite busy with all the preparations, it was worth all the effort.
This recipe was actually supposed to come out last week, before Christmas Eve, but I ended up not having time to finish it. But Christmas or not, it is always a good time to enjoy an amazing Black Forest Cake.
This cake comes from Germany and its is well known for its cherry liqueur syrup, which gives it a moist texture and fruity taste. It is typically decorated with cherries (in syrup or regular), but we are not in cherry season and I was not able to find the canned variety either. I chose to use raspberries instead, and it turned out even better than usual.
I strongly recommend you give this cake a try – not only is it beautiful, it is also one of the best chocolate cakes I’ve tasted.
Black Forest Cake
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 4 eggs
- 250 g white sugar
- 175 ml vegetable oil
- 200 g all-purpose flour
- 100 g cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp table salt
- 150 ml hot coffee
Syrup
- 100 ml water
- 100 g white sugar
- 3 tbsp cherry liqueur
Whipped Cream
- 400 ml heavy cream
- 4 tbsp white sugar
- 2 tsp cherry liqueur
Decoration
- 200 g raspberries (or cherries)
- chocolate shavings
Instructions
Syrup
- In a pan place water and sugar over medium heat. Bring to a boil for about 3 minutes.
- Add the cherry liqueur and mix. Set aside.
Chocolate Cake
- Preheat the oven to 180 º C.
- In a bowl, mix flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Beat eggs and sugar until the mixture becomes a paler color and doubles in volume.
- Pour in the oil and mix more.
- Lower the speed setting of your mixer to the lowest one. Slowly add the dry ingredients until incorporated.
- Lastly, stir in the warm coffee.
- Divide this mixture between three round cake pans of about 18 cm in diameter, previously greased.
- Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center of the cakes comes out dry.
Whipped Cream
- Beat the cream to firm peaks, gradually adding the sugar and liqueur during the process.
Assembling and Decorating
- Place the first cake layer on a serving plate. Use a pastry brush to spread the syrup over the entire surface of the cake.
- Cover with about 1/3 of the whipped cream. Place some raspberries and smoothen it over.
- Repeat the previous steps for the remaining two cake layers.
- Decorate the top of the cake using a pastry bag, and with the remaining raspberries and some chocolate shavings.
