The black forest cake (or how it’s called in German: “Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte”) is the most popular dessert in Germany.
It comes from the black forest region in Germany where it got its name from and its rich flavors and soft dough makes you want to never eat a different dessert every again because it’s just so delicious.
It is also a very difficult cake to make, but if you’re interested in trying the cake, don’t give up, you got it!
Ingredients for the Chocolate layers:
6 eggs
7 ounces (200g) Sugar
7 ounces (200g) flour
1.8 ounces (50g) cornstarch
1.8 ounces (50g) unsweetened cocoa pulver
2 tsp baking powder
A little butter for the baking pan
Ingredients for the filling
1 glass of sour cherries
2 Tbsp cornstarch
1 quart (1 liter) heavy whipping cream
5 packs of Cream stabilizer
1 Tbsp sugar
9 Tbsp kirsch (cherrie liqueur)
3.5 ounces (100g) chocolate shavings
Preparation:
For the chocolate layers, beat the eggs with sugar and 6 Tbsp of water for around 5 minutes on highest speed until the batter has doubled in volume. Then, mix flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder and baking powder in a bowl with a whisk. Now, put those dry ingredients through a sieve to the batter and fold it in carefully.
The sieve for the dry ingredients is important as it makes them much easier to fold into the egg and sugar mixture, preventing lumps from forming. The batter will remain light and airy and will rise better in the oven.
Preheat the oven to 356 Fahrenheit (180 degrees).
Grease the bottom of a 10 inches (26 cm) springform pan with butter and lightly flour it to prevent the cake from sticking to the sides after baking.
Pour the cake batter into the pan and smooth the top. Put it in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes and let it cool completely after.
For the filling, drain the sour cherries (normal cherries work okay as well, but traditionally it’s done with sour cherries) in a sieve and reserve the juice. Mix the cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of the cherry juice.
Bring the remaining cherry juice to a boil and stir the cornstarch mixture into it. Let it boil briefly while stirring, then remove the heat immediately.
This part is probably one of the most difficult ones for this recipe since you don’t want it to boil too long but too short isn’t good as well.
Set aside 16 sour cherries for decoration (or more if you want to, of course). Fold the remaining cherries into the cornstarch-cherry mixture.
Cut the cake base in half horizontally to create three layers. Take the first layer and drizzle the tablespoons of cherry liquor over it. Then, spread the now cooled down cherry mixture completely over it, smooth it out and let it cool.
Whip the cream with the cream stabilizer and sugar until the mixture is stiff. Use a spoon or spatula to spread about 3 tablespoons of whipped cream thinly over the cherry mixture.
By drizzling the cherry liquor on the layer before spreading the mixture onto it serves as an additional flavor note and adds moisture to the cake.
Put about 4 tablespoons of the cream into a piping bag and place it in the refrigerator for later.
Place the second cake layer on top of the first and press down gently. Drizzle another 3 tablespoons of the cherry liquor over the layer, then spread about half of the remaining cream over it.
Place the last cake layer on top, soak it with the remaining liquor and then cover the entire cake, including the sides, with the remaining cream.
Take the piping back out of the refrigerator again and pipe 16 rosettes (or if you want more cherries, pipe more) of cream onto the cake. Now place the cherries on top and sprinkle the surface and sides with the granted chocolate.
Refrigerate until serving.
This cake is really hard to make but if you take your time and mix everything long enough and do it as the recipe shows, I’m confident that you can do it!
Enjoy, or how we would say it in German: Guten Appetit!
Works Cited
K., Maryam. “The Ultimate Black Forest Cake.” Cakes by MK, 4 October 2023, https://cakesbymk.com/recipe/the-ultimate-black-forest-cake/. Accessed 20 January 2026.
Kravchuk, Natasha. “Black Forest Cake Recipe, German Chocolate Cake.” Natasha’s Kitchen, 26 February 2022, https://natashaskitchen.com/black-forest-cake-recipe/. Accessed 20 January 2026.
Lena, Anna -. “Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte – das klassische Rezept.” Einfach Backen, https://www.einfachbacken.de/rezepte/schwarzwaelder-kirschtorte-das-klassische-rezept. Accessed 20 January 2026.
Olivia. “Black Forest Cake.” Liv for Cake, https://livforcake.com/black-forest-cake/. Accessed 20 January 2026.
Westphal, Felix. “Tortenboden tränken: Perfekte Feuchtigkeit und Aroma für Ihre Torten.” Kuchen-Shop, 28 July 2025, https://kuchen-shop.com/blogs/news/tortenboden-tranken-perfekte-feuchtigkeit-und-aroma-fur-ihre-torten. Accessed 20 January 2026.
