Black Forest gateau

Name: Black Forest gateau
Prep time: 60 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 335 min
Yield: 12 slices
Cuisine: German
Ingredients: 6 piece Egg, room temperature; 180 g Sugar; 1 sachet Vanilla sugar; 120 g Wheat flour; 30 g Potato or corn starch; 50 g Cocoa powder; 1 tsp Baking powder; 60 g Butter, melted and cooled; 450 g Cherry, drained weight of jarred morello (sour) cherries; keep 250 ml of the juice; 25 g Potato or corn starch; 30 g Sugar; 80 ml Kirsch; 800 ml Cream, whipping cream, very cold; 40 g Icing sugar; 100 g Dark chocolate, a block, for shaving

Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte

Chocolate sponge soaked in kirsch, layered with whipped cream and sour cherries, finished with chocolate shavings and more cherries.

Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen. Native name preserved: Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte.

Start cooking

Prep: 1 hr
Cook: 35 min
Rest: 4 hr
Total: 5 hr 35 min
Difficulty: A bit of work
Spice: No chilli
Cost: A bit special$16–28 USD · indicative, not a store price

Know it before you cook it

About

Black Forest gateau is a chocolate sponge soaked in kirsch, layered with whipped cream and sour cherries, covered in more cream and chocolate shavings and topped with cherries. This version bakes one cocoa sponge in a 24 cm tin and splits it into three; thickens jarred morello cherries with their own juice and cornflour; whips cream with a little sugar until firm; and uses enough kirsch that you can taste it. The kirsch is not optional. Without it this is a chocolate cream cake with cherries, which is fine, but is a different cake and should be called one. Bake the sponge the day before. It cuts cleaner cold.

What you'll need

15 ingredients. Tap each one once it's out on the bench.

0 of 15 ready

12 servings

Sponge
Filling
Cream
Finish

Ingredients

Servings

Sponge

Egg, room temperature6
Sugar180 g
Vanilla sugar1 sachet
Wheat flour120 g
Potato or corn starch30 g
Cocoa powder50 g
Baking powder4.9 ml
Butter, melted and cooled60 g

Filling

Cherry, drained weight of jarred morello (sour) cherries; keep 250 ml of the juice450 g
Potato or corn starch25 g
Sugar30 g
Kirsch80 ml

Cream

Cream, whipping cream, very cold800 ml
Icing sugar40 g

Finish

Dark chocolate, a block, for shaving100 g

Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.

Steps

Step 1
Heat the oven to 180°C and line a 24 cm springform. Whisk eggs, sugar and vanilla sugar over a pan of barely simmering water until warm, then off the heat with an electric whisk for 8 to 10 minutes until thick, pale and tripled.
15 min180°C
Step 2
Sift flour, cornflour, cocoa and baking powder over the foam in three lots, folding gently each time. Fold in the melted butter last. Pour into the tin and bake 30 to 35 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Cool completely, ideally overnight.
40 min180°C
Watch: Fold, do not stir. The air in the eggs is the only lift that matters.
Step 3
Whisk the cornflour and sugar into the reserved cherry juice, bring to a boil stirring until thick and glossy, fold in the drained cherries and leave to cool. Set aside 12 good cherries for the top.
10 min
Step 4
Split the sponge into three even layers with a long serrated knife. Sprinkle each cut surface with kirsch, using all of it. Whip the cream with icing sugar until firm enough to hold a peak but still smooth.
15 min
Tip: Cold bowl, cold cream, stop the moment it holds. Over-whipped cream turns grainy on the cake.
Step 5
Spread the bottom layer with half the cherry filling and a fifth of the cream. Add the second layer, the rest of the cherries and another fifth of cream. Top with the last layer and cover the whole cake, top and sides, with the remaining cream.
15 min
Step 6
Shave the chocolate with a vegetable peeler and press the curls onto the sides and top. Pipe or spoon 12 cream rosettes round the edge and set a cherry on each. Chill at least 3 hours before slicing.
15 min
Tip: Warm the chocolate block in your hands for a minute and the peeler makes curls instead of dust.

Nutrition

Per serving · estimate

Calories: 494 kcal
Protein: 7.2 g
Carbs: 40.4 g
Fat: 32.4 g
Saturated fat: 19.1 g
Fibre: 1.1 g
Sugar: 24.7 g
Sodium: 78 mg

Calculated from canonical ingredient data (USDA FoodData Central averages and equivalent published tables). Estimates only.

Allergens

Informational only. Not a medical guarantee. Cross-contamination happens in real kitchens.

Eggs
Wheat
Milk

Vegetarian

Adapt this recipe

The original recipe stays as it is. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are simple maths.

Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 13 November.

Substitutions

Kirsch → Cherry juice with a spoon of brandy
Legal for home cooks, not for a Konditor. The cake will be sweeter and less sharp.

Tips

Jarred morello cherries are the right fruit. Fresh sweet cherries taste flat against the cream; tinned pie filling is too sweet.
The cake is better after a night in the fridge, when the kirsch has moved through the sponge.

History & culture

Kaffee und Kuchen cake, birthday cake, the centrepiece of every Konditorei window in Germany. Its home is the Black Forest in Baden-Württemberg, where cherries grow and kirsch is distilled, but no German thinks of it as regional any more. Abroad it became a 1970s dinner-party set piece and then a supermarket dessert, almost always without the kirsch.

Cream, cherries and kirsch were served together as a dessert in the Black Forest in the 19th century, but the layered cake is first documented in the 1930s. Josef Keller of Bad Godesberg claimed it from 1915; Erwin Hildenbrand of Tübingen is another candidate. German food law requires a cake sold under the name to contain kirsch.

Traditional

Provenance: Editorial adaptation.

Questions about this recipe

Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips.

How long does Black Forest gateau take?

5 hr 35 min all in — 1 hr prep, 35 min cook, 4 hr rest. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.

How many does it serve?

The recipe is written for 12 slices. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.

How hard is it?

A bit of work.

How spicy is it?

No chilli.

What allergens should I watch?

This recipe is labelled for Eggs, Wheat, Milk. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.

Does it fit a diet?

The published recipe is labelled Vegetarian.

10 more questions

What does it cost to cook?

A bit special — about $16–28 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.

What equipment do I need?

Mixing bowl, Oven, Kitchen scale, Timer, Saucepan.

How much salt do I put in?

This recipe does not list a salt amount. We will not invent one.

How much sugar?

180 g of Sugar.

How much sugar?

30 g of Sugar.

What can I use instead?

Kirsch → Cherry juice with a spoon of brandy. Legal for home cooks, not for a Konditor. The cake will be sweeter and less sharp.

What should I watch for?

Fold, do not stir. The air in the eggs is the only lift that matters.

Any tips from this recipe?

Jarred morello cherries are the right fruit. Fresh sweet cherries taste flat against the cream; tinned pie filling is too sweet. The cake is better after a night in the fridge, when the kirsch has moved through the sponge.

Can I prepare this ahead?

Sift flour, cornflour, cocoa and baking powder over the foam in three lots, folding gently each time. Fold in the melted butter last. Pour into the tin and bake 30 to 35 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Cool completely, ideally overnight.

Can I use an air fryer?

This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.