Black Forest Cake {Alcohol-free}
Rich. Fluffy. Fantastic. Imagine tender layers of chocolate cake, juicy cherries, and pillows of sweetened whipped cream all coming together in a perfectly moist and delicious cake. Whether you’re whipping it up as a weeknight treat or for a special celebration, this alcohol-free and approachable version has you covered.
Ingredients
One-Bowl Chocolate Cake
- 2 cups All-purpose Flour
- 2 cups Granulated Sugar
- 2/3 cup Cocoa unsweetened, dutch processed
- 1 1/2 tsp Espresso Powder optional
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
- a pinch of salt kosher or fine sea salt
- 2 Egg large, room temperature
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 cup Milk* Dairy or nut milk (almond, coconut, cashew, oat, soy) - use your favourite!
- 1/2 cup Vegetable/Canola oil or another light, flavourless oil
- 1 cup Hot Water
Simple Cherry Compote
- 4 cups Fresh or Frozen Cherries Pitted and halved
- 1/2 cup Granulated Sugar
- 1/2 cup Water
- 1/2 Lemon, juiced (aka juice from 1/2 of a lemon)
- 1/2 tsp Almond Extract
Vanilla Whipped Cream (Chantilly Cream)
- 2 1/2 cups Heavy Cream
- 5 tbsp Granulated Sugar
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 tbsp Cherry reduction (liquid from compote) optional
Instructions
One-Bowl Chocolate Cake
- Preheat your oven to 350F (convection oven 325F). Oil and line two, 9” cake pans with parchment paper rounds.
- In large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, espresso powder, cocoa, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Whisk to mix and aerate mixture (note: espresso powder amplifies the chocolate flavour).
- To the flour mixture, directly add egg, vegetable oil, vanilla, and milk. Mix until well incorporated and mixture is a thick, glossy, dark brown paste. Add boiling water to the mixture (slowly).
- Gently stir until the mixture transitions from a paste consistency to a thin liquid consistency.
- Pour 1/2 of batter into each cake pan. Bake cakes for ~35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
- Let cakes cool in their cake pans for 10 minutes before moving to wire cake racks to cool completely.
- *while the cake is cooling, you can start preparing the cherries!
Simple Cherry Compote
- Combine cherries (frozen or fresh), sugar, almond extract, lemon juice, and water in your medium saucepan. Allow mixture to come to a boil over medium heat and cook for 5-10 minutes, or until fragrant and cherries are have slightly softened.
- Remove cherries from the liquid and continue to cook liquid until it has reduced to 1/2-2/3 of the volume, ~5 minutes (note: Be sure to watch this mixture carefully and stir frequently! It can burn really quickly)
- Allow the cherries and cherry reduction to cool.
Vanilla Whipped Cream
- In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat whipped cream, vanilla, and sugar.
- Whipped cream is done when stiff peaks are created when the mixer whisk is taken out of the cream.
Assembly
- Place your first cake layer on your cake board.
- Use a fork to poke holes over the surface of your first layer of cake.
- Using a brush, soak the first cake layer with cherry reduction.
- On top of this first layer, spread half of your whipped cream mixture and scatter cherries over the surface.
- Add your second cake layer. Press it slightly to ensure it is steady over the whipped cream/cherries.
- Generously add the remaining whipped cream to the top, decorate with cherries, and extra cherry reduction as you desire!
- Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Sofia’s Tips:
- This cake batter will be very thin after you add the hot water – don’t panic! This is the way it is supposed to be.
- Go slow while mixing batter with hot water to ensure that you do not spill hot batter on yourself!
- Cake layers can last up to 6 months in the freezer. Package them in a double layer of plastic wrap and tin foil/a freezer bag. To thaw - simply remove cakes from freezer and set at room temperature for up to an hour to thaw)
- Easily replace frozen cherries with fresh when they are in season!
- Experimenting with additional flavour extracts can be a fun way to update this recipe! You can also always try using a combination of cherry jams and/or fresh fruit.
Nutrition
Serving: 1pieceCalories: 409kcalCarbohydrates: 52gProtein: 4gFat: 22gSaturated Fat: 10gPolyunsaturated Fat: 5gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0.1gCholesterol: 62mgSodium: 217mgPotassium: 65mgFiber: 1gSugar: 39gVitamin A: 577IUVitamin C: 0.2mgCalcium: 65mgIron: 1mg
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!