If there is one cake loved by everyone in this whole wide world and never fails to captivate the hearts of people, it is the legendary Black Forest Cake!
It is more than just a dessert; it is a divine combination of flavors like chocolate, cherry, and vanilla-flavored whipped cream. It is an irresistible symphony of flavors and textures that transport you to a desert paradise!
The black forest cake is also known as “Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte” in German and traces its roots in the Black Forest Region of Germany. It is believed to be inspired by the forest’s abundant cherries and the world-famous Black Forest Kirsch.
Traditionally, this cake is assembled with multiple layers of chocolate cake, cherry filling, and whipped cream.
But in this recipe, I have layered the cake with chocolate mousse, soaked it with cherry liquor and water mixture, then added homemade cherry compote in between, frosted with whipped cream, and garnished with chocolate shavings and fresh cherries.
I can guarantee you that after having this cake, you won’t ever return to the old bakery-style black forest cake. And for those always looking for eggless black forest cake, this cake is made for you.
Make this cake for your next birthday or any other occasion, and impress your loved ones. They will surely keep asking for more.
Eggless Black Forest Cake Recipe Video Tutorial
Why You’ll Love This Recipe?
- Flavor: It has a delightful chocolatey flavor with the addition of juicy cherries and luscious whipped cream. The chocolate sponge layers are moist and tender, with deep cocoa flavor complemented by the sweetness and tartness of cherry compote. Topping it off with velvety whipped cream and garnished with chocolate shavings, all these combined create an indulgent and refreshing flavor, making it an irresistible dessert for all.
- Texture: This cake has a soft, moist, and tender texture. Despite being eggless, the cake has a perfect crumb and structure that offers a delightful experience with each bite.
- Easy: Although it takes a little bit of time to make this recipe, it is easy and simple to follow. And the result is so beautiful that you will want to make this cake repeatedly.
- Crowd pleaser: Whether you are serving it to family, friends, or any guests, this black forest cake is a crowd pleaser that will receive compliments and smiles all around.
- Visually appealing: Its elegant appearance with layers of chocolate cake, whipped cream, cherries, and chocolate shavings makes it appealing and inviting.
- Classic: Black forest cake has been a beloved cake for generations; no one would not like to taste this amazing cake, making it a classic cake.
Important Ingredients Used in the Recipe
- Cocoa powder: I have used natural cocoa powder to make the chocolate sponge for the cake. You can use any kind of unsweetened cocoa powder for this recipe, but the color and texture may differ a little.
- Fat: I have added melted butter and oil to the recipe to give the cake a rich flavor.
- Cherries: Fresh, sweet cherries have been used to make the compote and to garnish the cake.
- Chocolate: I have used dark, semi-sweet chocolate to make the mousse filling for the recipe. You can also use milk chocolate if you prefer it.
- Red wine: Using red wine gives the cake a nice flavor, setting it apart from other black forest cakes. You can use non-alcoholic cherry-flavored juice if you do not have red wine or cherry liquor.
- Whipped cream: In this recipe, to frost the cake, I have used sweetened whipping cream that gives the cake a velvety texture.
How to Make Eggless Black Forest Cake
Preparations: Gather all the ingredients that you need to make the cake. If your ingredients are in the fridge, let them come to room temperature completely. Grease two 6-inch round baking tins with oil and place butter paper at the bottom. Preheat the oven to 180°C or 350°F (OTG mode: lower rod + upper rod + fan).
For The Sponge
Sifting: In a big bowl, sift all the dry ingredients, which are all-purpose flour, natural cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. Sifting dry ingredients is an important step in making the cake. So make sure that you do not skip this step.
Mixing liquid: In a different bowl, mix all the liquid ingredients, which are milk, water, oil, and melted butter. Add this liquid mixture to the sifted dry ingredients in parts and make a smooth batter out of it.
Baking: Transfer it to the prepared tins equally and bake them at 180°C or 350°F (OTG mode: lower rod mode only) for 30-35 minutes or until the toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean with a few crumbs.
For Cherry Compote
To make the compote, first deseed the fresh cherries. In a heavy bottom pan, add all the ingredients: deseeded cherries, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, and salt. Cook them until all the sugars are dissolved and the cherries soften. Transfer it to a bowl and let it cool down.
For Mousse
For the mousse, in a microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate and let it cool down. Meanwhile, in a different bowl, beat whipping cream with an electric hand beater until a soft peak is achieved. Now, in this, fold in the melted chocolate with a spatula. Transfer it to a piping bag and keep it aside to assemble the cake.
For The Soaking Syrup
For the soaking syrup, mix red wine and water.
For Frosting
Beat whipping cream with an electric hand beater until a soft peak is achieved.
For Chocolate Shavings
For chocolate shavings, start peeling the corners of the chocolate with a vegetable peeler.
Assembly
Layering: On a cake base, pipe some of the frosting and place a layer of sponge on top.
Soak it with the soaking syrup and pipe the whipped cream frosting on the edge of the layer so that our filling does not spill while layering.
Pipe some dark chocolate mousses in the center and smooth out with an offset spatula to even out.
Add cherry compote on top of the layer and place another sponge layer.
Repeat the same process as with the first layer until we get a cake with four layers.
Soak the top layer as well.
Crumb coating: To crumb coat the cake, pipe thin layers of frosting all over the cake and smooth it out. It helps in setting the stray crumbs in place. Keep it in the fridge for 15 – 20 minutes until the frosting sets a bit.
Final coating: After 15 – 20 minutes, give the cake its final coating by piping thick layers of frosting all over it and smoothing them out to ensure you get a sharp edge on top.
Decorating: For decorating the cake, pipe shell borders using an open star or 6B nozzle. Stick chocolate shavings on the sides of the cake as well as the top center of the cake. Lastly, place fresh cherries on top.
Chef’s Tip For The Recipe
Tips For A Neatly Frosted Cake.
If possible, use chilled whipping cream and cold utensils to make the frosting.
Allow the cake layers to completely cool down before layering and frosting, or it may melt the frosting.
Types Of Cherries That Can Be Used For The Cake.
Use pitted fresh cherries to make the compote. But you can also use canned or jarred cherries; maraschino cherries would also be fine for the cake.
How to Store Eggless Black Forest Cake
You can store the cake in the fridge for 2 – 3 days. Make sure to keep it in an air-tight container so that it does not get dried out.
You can keep it in the freezer for at least one week after placing it in an air-tight container.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Although using alcohol in this recipe is traditional, you can use a non-alcohol version by mixing cherry juice and water.
No, both cakes are different in taste. Traditionally black forest cakes are made with layers of chocolate sponges, soaked with cherry liquor and filled with whipped cream and cherry filling, and then frosted with whipped cream and decorated with chocolate shavings. On the other hand, chocolate cake is a cake that has layers of chocolate sponges filled with chocolate frosting. You can transform a simple chocolate cake into a black forest cake.
Yes, you can use frozen cherries to make a compote for the black forest cake. Make sure to thaw the cherries and drain any excess water before using them.
Yes, you can use chocolate ganache as the filling along with chocolate filling to add extra flavor to the cake.
Eggless Black Forest Cake
If there is one cake that is loved by everyone in this whole wide world and never fails to captivate the heart of people, it is the legendary black forest cake. Make this cake for your next birthday or any other occasion, and impress your loved ones. They will surely keep asking for more.
- Total Time: 100 to 115 minutes
Ingredients
For Sponge
- 200 g All-purpose flour
- 30 g Natural cocoa powder
- 6 g Baking soda
- 200 g Castor sugar
- 125 g Milk
- 125 g Water
- 50 g Oil
- 50 g Melted butter
- ½ tsp Vanilla essence
- For Cherry Compote
- 150 g Fresh cherries
- 5 g Lemon juice
- ½ tsp Lemon zest
- 23 g Castor sugar
- 1/8 tsp Salt
- 27 g Water
For Chocolate Mousse
- 120 g Whipping cream
- 40 g Dark coverture
- 15 g Fresh cream
For Chocolate Shavings
- Dark compound chocolate slab
For Frosting
- 100 g Sweetened whipping cream
For Decoration
- Fresh cherries
Instructions
For Sponge
- Preheat the oven to 180°C or 350° F (OTG mode: upper rod + Lower rod + fan). Grease and line 6-inch round tins with oil and place butter paper at the bottom.
- In a bowl, sieve all the dry ingredients together, which are all-purpose flour, natural cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar.
- In another bowl, add all the liquid ingredients, milk, water, oil, and melted butter, then mix.
- Now gradually add liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients in parts and mix until a smooth batter is formed and there is no lump.
- Transfer the batter into the prepared tins equally.
- Bake them at 180°C or 350° F (OTG mode: Lower rod) for 30-35 minutes or until the toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
For Chocolate Mousse
- In a bowl, melt the dark chocolate and warm fresh cream separately.
- Mix this warm cream in the chocolate till it’s smooth. Let it cool a little bit.
- Beat the whipping cream in a separate bowl with an electric hand beater. Once it reaches the soft peak stage, add the ganache and mix properly until you get a mousse-like texture.
For Cherry Compote
- Deseed the fresh cherries before making the compote.
- Now in a heavy bottom pan, add all the ingredients that are deseeded cherries, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, and water. Cook them until all the sugar is dissolved and the cherries are soft.
For Soaking Syrup
- Add water to red wine and mix. Set aside for further use.
For Chocolate Shavings
- Using a vegetable peeler, start peeling the corner of the chocolate to get chocolate shavings.
For Frosting
- In a bowl, beat whipping cream with an electric hand beater until a soft peak is achieved.
Assembly
- After cooling the sponges, de-mold them from the tins carefully with a palette knife.
- Divide the sponges with a cake leveler into two parts.
- On the cake base, pipe some of the frosting and place one layer of sponge on top.
- Soak the sponge with the soaking syrup and pipe frosting around the edge of the sponge.
- Pipe chocolate mousse in the center and add cherry compote on top. Then, place another layer of sponge, and repeat the same process as we did with the first layer until we get four-layered cakes.
- Soak the top layer as well.
- Now crumb coats the cake by piping thin layers of frosting all over the cake and smoothing them out using a bent palette knife. Remove the excess with a scrapper.
- Keep it in the fridge for about 15 – 20 minutes until the frosting sets a bit.
- After 15 – 20 minutes, pipe frosting all over the cake again for final coating. Make sure that you have sharp edges at the top.
- Now, the pipe shell borders around the top edge with an open star nozzle.
- Now stick chocolate shavings all over the sides of the cake and the top center.
- Lastly, place fresh cherries on top around the border.
- Prep Time: 50 to 55 minutes
- Assembly Time: 20 to 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 to 35 minutes
