Go Back

Black Forest Cake

Layers of moist chocolate sponge cake, velvety whipped cream, and sweet cherries this decadent cake is incredibly soft and delicious.
Print It! Pin It!

Ingredients
  

Cake

  • 2 large eggs
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • ½ cup milk
  • ¾ cup yogurt
  • 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
  • ¾ cup semi-sweet cocoa powder
  • 1½ cups granulated sugar
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp instant coffee
  • ½ cup hot water
  • 28 oz maraschino cherries in syrup

Whipped Cream

  • 2½ cups heavy cream
  • ¼ cup icing sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Instructions
 

For the Cake

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease three 8-inch round cake pans and line with parchment paper.
  • Make the chocolate cake: In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, milk, and yogurt until smooth. Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and espresso powder. Add in the hot water and beat until combined and there are no streaks of flour remaining.
  • Divide batter evenly between 3 pans— I used around 370 grams batter for each pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes or when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and set on a wire rack, allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pans, then remove from pans and set on a cooling rack.

For the cherries

  • Drain the cherries, saving some syrup to brush onto the cakes. Reserve some cherries to decorate the top and then pat dry the cherries, cut them in half, and set aside.

For the whipped cream

  • In a medium sized bowl, whip the heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla pasta on medium-high speed until firm, about 3 minutes.

To assemble

  • Use a serrated knife to level your cakes and then brush the first cake base with the cherry syrup. Top with a thick layer of whipped cream, followed by half the maraschino cherries and a light drizzle of the cherry syrup. Follow by the second layer of cake, brush of syrup, a thick layer of whipped cream, the remaining cherries, and another drizzle of syrup. Finish off with the third layer of cake and the remaining whipped cream.
  • Garnish with cherries and shredded chocolate!
  • Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before slicing and serving. Enjoy!