Ooooh, you guys. You're gonna love what I have to share today. It's Black Forest Cake! And it's vegan! Yippee! This baby was actually for a recent birthday order, and when they asked for black forest I was like hmm... well, I know it has chocolate and it has cherries. And that's basically the extent of my knowledge on that subject. 😉 But trust me when I say this is unbelievably delicious and easier than you'd think! I know I always say that but just cause it's always true. This cake is made of two layers of dark chocolate cake, sandwiched together with a vanilla buttercream mixed with fresh caramelized cherries, then covered in dark chocolate buttercream, and topped with a grating of chocolate and more fresh cherries on top. It's the absolute perfect way to celebrate summer's bounty!
I have to admit that since this was for an order, I didn't get to taste the finished product. I mean obviously. I couldn't really deliver a cake with a slice missing 😉 but the cake recipe is my tried-and-tested vegan chocolate cake that I used for bridal shower cakes and wedding cakes and bundt cakes {and like all of the chocolate cakes ever, really}, and the buttercream is just a classic blend of 50% EarthBalance/50% butter Crisco and powdered sugar, with the addition of cocoa powder for the chocolate version. So I mean, I tasted all the components and they were delicious. I imagine the entire thing was mindblowing! I'm going to have to make it again just so I can personally eat it. 🙂 Happy baking!
- *for the cake*
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups white granulated sugar
- 1 cup dark cocoa powder
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 1 cup water
- ⅔ cup vegetable oil
- 4 tablespoon white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- *for the filling*
- 1 lb fresh cherries, pitted and halved
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch
- ¼ cup EarthBalance
- ¼ cup butter-flavored Crisco
- 2-3 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- *for the frosting*
- ½ cup EarthBalance
- ½ cup butter-flavored Crisco
- 3-4 cups powdered sugar
- 1 cup dark cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter and flour two round 8-inch pans, and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the almond milk, sugar, water, oil, and vanilla extract. Add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa, and mix well. Add in the vinegar, and mix until thoroughly combined.
- Divide evenly among the two prepared pans, and bake for 25-30 minutes until the center no longer jiggles, and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with just a couple of crumbs.
- Set aside and cool completely before assembly.
- In a small nonstick pot, whisk together the brown sugar and cornstarch. Add in the cherries, and heat on medium-low until they start to break down and caramelize. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
- In a medium bowl, beat together the Crisco and EarthBalance for the filling. Add in the powdered sugar, slowly, until a stiff frosting forms. Beat in the vanilla and salt. If you want to save a little bit of vanilla frosting to decorate the top, set some aside now.
- Using a spatula, gently fold the cherries into the rest of the vanilla frosting for the filling. Place in the fridge until ready to use.
- Grab the plate you will assemble the cake on, and place one of the chocolate cakes on it. Top it with the cherry filling, then place the other cake on top. Smooth the filling around the sides, and place the cake in the fridge or freezer for at least one hour.
- To make the chocolate frosting, beat together the remaining EarthBalance and Crisco in a medium bowl using a hand mixer.
- When smooth, add in the cocoa, vanilla, and salt, then add in the powdered sugar a bit at a time until a smooth frosting forms. This does not have to be as stiff as the vanilla frosting for the filling!
- When ready to frost, remove the cake from the fridge/freezer, and frost using the chocolate frosting.
- If desired, grate some chocolate on top of the cake. Decorate around the top using the vanilla frosting you saved from the filling, and top with fresh cherries. Store in fridge until ready to serve!
- *Note: I prefer to use dark cocoa powder when available, but regular cocoa will work just as well!*
Jess @ Flying on Jess Fuel says
This is suchhhhh a pretty cake!! <3 I love chocolate and cherries together, especially big beautiful fresh cherries like those ones!
danette says
Looking forward to making this cake! Can you please tell me if the Earth Balance in the soft, in a tube kind or the harder in squares kind?
thank you,
Danette
valentina says
Hi Danette! I believe I used the Earth Balance in the square tub for this, but the product is the exact same for the sticks and the tub. The sticks are just a little easier to measure out. 🙂 Good luck and happy baking!
Soraika says
Hi I have a question. /When do I add the cornstarch when making the filling? it is in the ingredients, but I m not seeing anything about the cornstarch when I read the directions.
Thank you!
valentina says
Hi Soraika! You add the cornstarch to the brown sugar and cherries on the stovetop 🙂 You can find this on step 5 of the instructions! Good luck!
Cal Torres says
I have made this cake before and it was such a hit that I'm trying to do it for Thanksgiving! This time around though, I only have 9 inch baking pans. Can you help with conversions?
valentina says
Hey Cal! Switching from 8” to 9” pans shouldn’t be a big difference - the baking time is gonna be a little less! I would expect they will need more like 20-25 minutes rather than 30. Check them around the 20 minute mark with a toothpick to see if the center is cooked 🙂