Eggless Black Forest Cake Recipe

Eggless black forest cake recipe with video. This decadently delicious eggless black forest cake is perfectly moist, full of rich chocolate flavour with layers of chocolate sponge, whipped cream & cherries, adorned with chocolate shavings. This beautiful black forest cake is the easiest that anyone can bake! Yes! Anyone! No matter you are a beginner or an experienced baker this recipe is the simplest to bake & easier than you think! It is perfect for any occasions and celebrations to make your day memorable.

About black forest cake

Black forest cake also known as Black Forest gateau, is a classic chocolate sponge cake with cream and cherry filling, based on a German dessert, “Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte” which translates to “Black forest cherry torte”.

A typical black forest cake has several layers of super light chocolate sponge cake soaked with kirschwasser (cherry spirit), then sandwiched with whipped cream & cherries. Lastly it is decorated with some whipped cream frosting, maraschino cherries & chocolate shavings.

Though this delicious show-stopping dessert originated in Germany, it is made around the world that features slightly different versions.

But one thing that is true about the black forest cake, it is made with several layers of chocolate sponge cake, with a rich and addictive whipped cream and cherry filling. Rest of the components like the syrup and cherries used vary a lot depending on country.

The German Schwarzwalder Kirshtorte has an important component, kirschwasser, a clear spirit (alcohol) made from sour cherries. Germans, love their traditional dessert so much that the German law mandates “any dessert labelled Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte must have kirschwasser”. (Source:Wikipedia)

In a lot of countries, a dessert based on this is made without kirschwasser and it is called black forest cake or Black Forest gateau but not Schwarzwalder Kirshtorte because it has no kirschwasser.

My recipe

My recipe is based on the German black forest cake, but is egg free and alcohol-free. As I mentioned earlier every culture and country has a variation of the traditional German Black forest cake.

Here in my recipe, I have used a simple sugar syrup as a substitute to alcohol, cherry spirit. You can also use regular cherry syrup, I have added the instructions below for that as well.

For the base, we need a soft and spongy cake. You can make one with eggs or without eggs. On occasions I have baked this cake with and without eggs. I have the recipes for both the versions on the blog.

The cake recipe I have used here is the same, the most popular eggless chocolate cake on my blog. It bakes up to a moist, super soft and flavorful cake. If you are a beginner you may check that post as well where I share the basics to baking perfect cake.

However If you prefer using eggs to make your chocolate sponge you may check this chocolate sponge cake.

If you do not have an oven, you can also bake this cake in a cooker or heavy bottom pot or pan following this cooker cake recipe. I highly suggest reading the full recipe and tips before you begin so you don’t go wrong.

This recipe is divided into 2 sections for the ease of understanding. The first section is to make the cake and the second section is to make the frosting and decorate the black forest cake. I also have a video of the full recipe below. Do check out that.

How to make black forest cake (stepwise photos)

If you do not have 6 inch pans, then bake one 8 inch cake and slice them to 2 layers. Decide on the number of layers you want to have in your black forest cake. Usually it has at least 3 to 4 layers.

1. Grease two 6 inch cake pans or one 8 inch cake pan. Line them with parchment paper. If you do not have parchment paper then simply dust some cocoa generously all over and invert the pans in the kitchen sink so the excess is removed. Preheat oven to 170 C or 340 F for at least 15 mins. Follow the same even to bake in microwave convection mode.

2. Place a sieve over a large mixing bowl. Add ¼ cup cocoa powder (good quality powder).

3. Next add 1 ½ cups flour – all-purpose flour or wheat flour (180 grams) and ⅓ teaspoon salt.

4. Add 1 teaspoon Baking soda. Please ensure your baking soda is active and within the shelf period before using.

5. Sieve all of them and mix well.

6. Add 1 cup sugar. I used fine sugar here. You can also powder 1 cup sugar and add it here.

Make batter

7. Pour ⅓ cup oil (80 ml). I used organic virgin coconut oil. You can use any light neutral oil.

8. Pour 1 tablespoon Vanilla extract.

9. Pour 1 cup milk or water at room temperature. Pour 1 tablespoon Vinegar.

10. Begin to mix with a whisk gently just until combined. Scrape the sides in between and mix. Make sure you don’t overmix. We don’t want a gluey or flat cake.

11. You should have a smooth batter that is free of any lumps.

Baking cake

12. Divide the batter to greased 2 pans. Place the cake pans in the center rack of your oven. Bake for 20 mins (6 inch pan) or for 30 to 35 mins (8 inch pan). Every oven is different so adjust the baking time as needed. You may need a little longer.

13. When correctly baked, the tester comes out clean.

14. Remove the cake pans and place them on the racks so they don’t sweat at the bottom.

15. Remove the cakes from the pan by inverting the cake pan on the rack, as shown in the picture. Cool completely on the wired rack. While the cakes cool, make the sugar syrup or cherry syrup.

Make syrup

16. To make sugar syrup, boil 2 tbsp sugar with 4 to 5 tbsp water until the mixture comes to a rolling boil. or make cherry syrup by adding 3 tbsps water to chopped cherries. Rest for 45 mins. Later strain the syrup and use it here. Pat the cherries gently to remove excess juice.

17. I never slice my cakes and prefer to bake the individual layers in separate pans. But if you have baked it in a single 8 inch pan, then slice it in the center to 2 layers. Also if your cake is uneven on top, then slice it evenly with a cake leveler or knife. Clean up any bits of crumbs on the cake.

18. Pour 1 to 2 tbsps of the prepared syrup evenly on the cakes. Set this aside. This step is very essential as it keeps the cake moist.

Whipping cream

19. Chill the bowl & beater for few hours. Then transfer 1½ cups cream to the chilled bowl and start whiping on a low then to medium speed until it turns bubbly and slightly thick.

20. Then slowly add 3 tablespoons powdered sugar.

21. Whip until stiff peaks. Stiff peaks stand up & do not fall when the beaters are lifted. Be careful not to over whip.

22. Fit a pipping nozzle inside a piping bag. Transfer half cup whipped cream to it. Avoid handling the bag a lot as it will soften the cream. Immediately refrigerate.

Decorating

23. The eggless black forest cake is decorated with some chocolate shavings and cherries. For the chocolate shavings you can use any good quality chocolate. Keep the chocolate bar out of the fridge until it is easy to handle then using a grater or knife just make some shavings. You can make this ahead and refrigerate.

Before you begin this step ensure you do it in a cool room. If you live in a hot place, turn on your air conditioner.

24. Add a tsp of cream to the cake stand and place 4 parchment papers on all the 4 sides. Then place one layer of the cake over it. Spread cream on the cake. Then layer the chopped cherries.

25. Place another cake on top and spread the frosting there too. Do not handle the cream a lot, it begins to deflate.

26. Spread a thin layer on the sides as well and refrigerate for 45 to 60 mins. I made a 3 layer cake.

27. Repeat frosting cream all over the cake. If needed refrigerate it again. Then decorate the cake on the borders.

28. Cover the sides of the cake with chocolate shavings. Then place the cherries on top and fill the gaps with chocolate shavings. Immediately refrigerate the black forest cake until needed.

Slice the black forest cake to 8 to 10 portions.

More Cake recipes,
Biscuit Cake
Eggless vanilla cake
Chocolate cake
Banana cake
Eggless carrot cake

Pro tips

1. Cherries
Fresh cherries are best to use for layering & decorating. Alternately maraschino cherries or tinned cherries can be used if you like the flavor. Just pit the cherries and chop them to bite sizes.

Set aside some whole cherries for decoration. Allow the cherries to come down to room temperature before using it on the cake.

2. Cherry syrup
Originally kirschwasser, a clear spirit made of cherries is used to moisten the cake. Alternately freshly made cherry syrup or sugar syrup can be used. You can also use the cherry syrup from canned cherries.

Do not use the syrup from the maraschino cherries as the flavor is not good due to the additives. This can be prepared 1 day ahead.

3. Frosting
For the frosting, whipping cream with at least 36% or above works best. I used cream with 36% fat. The more fats the more stable your whipped cream frosting will be.

I haven’t used any stabilizers but used homemade confectioners sugar. I used 1 tbsp cornstarch for every 1 cup of sugar & blended them together.

Faqs

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