Black Forest cake is chocolate sponge, cherries and whipped cream. The usual failure is a wet, sliding middle. The cause is nearly always the same: the cherry filling bleeds juice into the sponge and the cream, and unsupported whipped cream slumps.
What it is made of
Top to bottom in this version:
- Dark ganache 0.5 cm
A thin lid that seals the cream from the air and adds shine
- Chocolate sponge ×3 · 2.5 cm
The top layer
- Whipped cream ×2 · 1.2 cm
A light layer that cuts the sweetness and the cherry’s tartness
- Cherry compote ×2 · 0.8 cm
Thickened with starch, which is what holds the juice
That is three sponges, two cherry layers, two cream layers and a ganache top.
An honest note on how this differs from the classic. The German original soaks the sponge in kirsch and finishes with cream and chocolate shavings, not ganache. This version has no separate soaking step, and the lid is ganache. If you want the traditional flavour, add kirsch to a sugar syrup for the sponge, in small amounts: alcohol is mostly water and can split a cream.
Order of work
The day before: bake the sponges. Chocolate sponge uses baking soda, because natural cocoa is acidic. Chill the cooled sponge 4 to 10 hours and it will slice cleanly instead of crumbling. Do not wrap it warm, or condensation forms. Cook the cherry compote the same day and chill it completely; warm filling melts the cream.
Assembly day:
- Slice the sponges into even discs with a wire.
- Pipe a ring of whipped cream around the edge of the first sponge. This is the dam, and without it the juice runs out of the sides.
- Spoon cold, thick cherries into the centre, inside the dam.
- Add a layer of cream, then the next sponge. Repeat.
- Freeze the cake for 20 to 30 minutes so the ganache does not push the cream around.
- Ganache: bring cream (30% fat or more) to 80 to 90 °C, pour over chocolate, stir smooth. At 34 to 36 °C it is fluid and gives thin drips; around 28 °C it is thicker. Check with a thermometer.
- Pour onto the chilled cake. The drips keep moving for about two minutes.
Whip the cream cold (33 to 35% fat) to soft peaks. Over-whipped cream turns grainy and buttery, and that cannot really be undone.
Rest the finished cake in the fridge for a few hours. Slice with a warm, dry knife.
What can go wrong
- Sponge soggy and sticky. The filling was warm or runny. Thicken it with starch beforehand and chill it fully.
- Cream slumped. It was over-whipped or not cold enough. Whip in a cold bowl.
- Ganache split or dull. The cream had too little fat (under 30%) or was overheated.
- The cake slides. No cream dam, or ganache poured onto a warm cake.
The verdict
Dryness of the filling and temperature decide this cake. Thicken and chill the cherries, keep the cream cold, pour ganache onto a cold cake. The rest is taste.
