Black Forest Chiffon Cake

Black Forest Chiffon Cake has layers of chocolate chiffon brushed with kirsch, sandwiched between whipped cream and kirsch soaked cherries.

Black Forest Chiffon Cake

I’ve tasted many Black Forest Cakes over the years. And my experience has been plagued with hits and misses. From dry sponges to overly wet sponges, or the cake being toothachingly sweet which throws the entire flavour profile out of balance.

The combination of chocolate, cherries, and whipped cream should create the perfect synergy of sweetness, sourness, and richness. This version deviates from the traditional black forest cake by using a chocolate chiffon as the base.

Now this chocolate chiffon is incredibly light, with a beautiful tenderness and rich cocoa flavour. It’s the perfect vehicle for soaking up the cherry and kirsch syrup.

What is a Black Forest Cake?

Also known as Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte or black forest gâteau. It’s a layered cake originating from Germany that consists of a chocolate sponge sandwiched together with whipped cream and cherries. It traditionally incorporates Kirsch/Kirschwasser, which is a brandy made from cherries.

This cake has a few key layers

• Three layers of chocolate chiffon – light, airy, and moist sponge cakes with a rich chocolate flavour. These layers also have the perfect amount of structure for layering and soak up the cherry and Kirsch syrup exceptionally well
• Cherry and Kirsch syrup – the cherries provide the perfect amount of sweetness and sourness, while the Kirsch adds complexity and an almost nutty note
• Stabilised vanilla whipped cream – light vanilla whipped cream stabilised with a small amount of white chocolate to add the perfect amount of stability
• Kirsch soaked cherries – these will be layered between the sponges to add an extra pop of flavour in every bite, which is a key component of this cake
• Dark chocolate shavings – these are the finishing touch and add a hint of bitterness and richness for balance

What is a chiffon cake?

Chiffons are incredibly light and moist sponge cakes. They’re classed as a foam cake and rely on whipped egg whites to provide the leavening. They contain a small amount of fat in the form of oil for moisture.

Chiffon cakes the best type of cake for soaking up liquid, which is why they form the base for many tres leches cakes. They also have a lot of structure and extensibility. Which in turn makes them my favourite style of sponge for layered cakes, especially when you want something light.

The Kirsch soaked morello cherries are a key component

The Kirsch ramps up the cherry flavour and adds a subtle note of almond. Kirsch itself is unsweetened, which makes it perfect for balancing out the morello cherries.

I hardly drink anymore so instead of purchasing an entire bottle of Kirsch, I used a jar of Kirsch soaked cherries. I’ll include the measurements for both methods. I.e. jarred Kirsch soaked cherries and if you wanted to soak them yourself.

Let’s talk about some of the ingredients

I’ll cover the main ones below but the full recipe can be found at the end

• Cake flour – this has a lower protein content that regular plain/all purpose flour which reduces gluten formation. This leads to a more tender and light crumb. However you can substitute plain/all purpose flour if needed, it just won’t be as light
• Cocoa powder – Dutch processed cocoa is preferable here for a deeper colour and flavour. Most supermarket cocoa powders in the UK are already Dutch processed and this can be determined by the potassium carbonate in the ingredients (this forms the alkaline solution that washes the cocoa)
• Large eggs – I always use large eggs when baking, which is the standard. In the UK, each large egg will weigh between 63-73g. These will be classed as extra large eggs in the USA
• Kirsch soaked cherries – these can be shop bought or made with jarred/frozen cherries and a bottle of Kirsch. See the notes section of the recipe for further information
• Double cream – this will be double cream for UK readers and heavy whipping cream for US readers
• Chocolate – we’re using white chocolate to stabilise the whipped cream, and dark chocolate (minimum 70%) for the shavings

There must be no contamination of the whites with yolk or fat – otherwise they wont whisk up!

The KEY tips for making this CHiffon Cake

1. Separate cold eggs – cold eggs are far easier to separate than room temperature. My preferred method is to separate the eggs in clean hands and allow the white to drip through your fingers
2. Whisking COLD egg whites – in my experience, cold whites provide a more stable meringue with a finer and more uniform structure. Which goes against the norm of using room temperature whites! However this is a method used across many East Asian bakeries and cold egg whites are the way to go here
3. Well emulsified batter – cocoa is a fat and destabilises the meringue. I’ve seen countless chocolate chiffon recipes where there is obvious defoaming and this is down to a broken/incomplete emulsion. I go into detail in the recipe on how to ensure you have a well emulsified batter, which is the most crucial part of any chiffon cake
4. Folding the meringue into the batter with a whisk – this is the most effective folding technique and leads to less volume loss in comparison to using a spatula
5. Bake the chiffon in a tall aluminium tin – chiffon cakes ‘climb’ up the walls of the tin and also need to be cooled upside down. Hence, it’s important not to use a non stick tin. Non stick tins will not work. I use aluminium tins for all chiffon cakes. Do not grease or line the tin at all otherwise the cake won’t adhere to the sides and will simply deflate
6. Bake the chiffon in a water bath – chiffons are sensitive to temperature and I find they bake a lot better in a water bath. This provides a more gradual temperature increase which allows for a better balance between starch gelatinisation (cake structure ‘setting’) and leavening. Thus creating a sturdy structure that cold hold the high volume of air

How to make this BLack Forest Chiffon Cake

Let’s start with the chocolate chiffon

Start by pouring hot oil over the cocoa powder and whisking till smooth. This will bloom the cocoa to extract more flavour

Next, add in the milk and vanilla and whisk well

Add in the egg yolks and whisk well once again. This needs to be well emulsified otherwise there is a risk of defoaming of the meringue later on

Scrape the mixture down on all sides and then whisk again to ensure everything has been emulsified

Add in flour (I pre-sifted this) and whisk well in a side-to-side motion until smooth

Repeat the process of scraping down with the spatula and whisking again to ensure all the flour has been mixed in

For the meringue

Add a splash of vinegar or cream of tartar to the cold egg whites. This acts as a stabiliser

Whisk the whites on a low speed while gradually adding the sugar in increments. Once the whisk starts to leave streaks, check the meringue every 30 seconds or so until it reaches medium peaks

For medium peaks, the tip of the meringue should dip at around 45 degrees off of the whisk. At this point, remove 1/4 of the meringue and add it to the chocolate yolk mixture

Using a whisk, fold the meringue into the chocolate yolk mixture. This lightens the batter which makes it easier to incorporate

Fold until a few streaks remain, then switch to a spatula and scrape the sides down to ensure all the meringue has been mixed in

Pour the lightened chocolate mixture into the side of the meringue bowl where the 1/4 was removed. Pouring directly on top of the whites could cause them to deflate due to the weight

Using a whisk, fold the two together in the same motion we did earlier

When most of the streaks of white are gone, switch to a spatula once again and fold to ensure all the white has been mixed in

Pour the chiffon cake batter from a 20cm height into the ungreased aluminium baking tin (the tin cannot be non stick as the cake must adhere to the sides)

Using a skewer, swirl around the batter to remove air bubbles, then tap once on the counter

Cover the tin loosely with foil, and bake in a water-bath. This allows for a more gradual and even bake to prevent cracks and doming

Once baked, immediately turn the tin over and cool upside down. This is essential as gravity would cause the delicate structure of the cake to collapse if cooled upright

Once cooled completely, slide a metal spatula around the sides of the tin, then gently press inwards all around the cake to help loosen. Finally, flip the chiffon cake out on to the wire rack

Next, let’s make the stabilised whipped cream

Start by pouring warm cream over melted white chocolate

Whisk to combine the cream and white chocolate, before pouring the remaining cold cream in

Whisk once again to combine, then cover with clingfilm and place into the fridge until completely chilled

Now, let’s assemble the Black Forest Chiffon Cake

Slice the chiffon cake into three equal layers, I like to use a cake leveller to do this evenly

Then, whisk the cold whipped cream to medium stiff peaks. At this stage it’ll be thick but easy to spread

To assemble, start by brushing the first layer of cake with the Kirsch syrup all over. Top with dollops of the whipped cream and smooth over into an even layer

Top with sliced Kirsch soaked cherries (be generous!) and then place the next layer of cake on top. Brush once again with the Kirsch syrup all over

Repeat with more whipped cream and Kirsch soaked cherries. Then, place the final layer of chiffon on top and brush once again with the Kirsch syrup

Decorate the black forest chiffon cake with the rest of the whipped cream. I like to do this with a thin first layer (crumb coat)

Once the first layer is smoothed over, add the remaining whipped cream and repeat

Smooth the cream over as best as you can, it doesn’t need to be perfect!

To make the chocolate shavings, scrape the back of a cold bar of dark chocolate with a sharp knife. This can be a little long winded but you can also use a grater to make it a bit quicker

Decorate the cake all over with the chocolate shavings, then place one final dollop of whipped cream on top

Top with glace morello cherries or fresh cherries, and a final pinch of chocolate shavings

Frequently Asked Questions

How long will this black forest cake keep? And what’s the best way to store it?

Chiffon cakes are moist and hence keep well for 5-6 days refrigerated. Store this cake in the fridge in an air tight container. It can be served cold right out of the fridge and does not need to come to room temperature like butter based cakes.

Can this black forest chiffon cake be made vegan or without eggs?

No, the main ingredient in chiffon cakes are the eggs. Eggs provide the structure and leavening here and so they cannot be replaced.

If you enjoyed this recipe

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Until then, happy baking!