This week has been a whirlwind of recipe testing, picture taking, and blog organizing. All of those things were very stressful and difficult but…they somehow ended with me making a black forest cake. And what a good thing that was!

You know when you make a cake or dessert of some kind and it slowly disappears throughout the day to the point were only a few crumbs are left on the plate? That is exactly the case with this amazing cake. My family was IN LOVE with the complex flavors and textures that this cake brings to the table.

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The cake is amazing by itself, of course, but I have a few important tips to elevate the whole dessert!

The Perfect Cake Base – The most important part of a good chocolate cake is a hot liquid. I like a believe the perfect mix is a half cup hot water and another half cup coffee. The coffee brings out more chocolate flavor which is arguably the most important part!

Cherry Soak – Don’t be afraid of it! My first go at making this cake I was afraid of pouring too much of the soak to the point that the cake would become soup. Forget about that! The more soak the better!! It may seem like a lot but use all of what the recipe below tells to.

Texture – Let’s be honest guys, a cake without something fun thrown into it is not good. The key to a scrumptious cake is texture! So play around with it! My recommendation for this specific cake is walnuts/pecans or chocolate chips. If you wanna get crazy go ahead put in both! There’s really no wrong way to go.

Okay having said all that, now lets BAKE!

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Black Forest Cake

Author: Ana Smith Prep Time: 40 minutes Cook Time: 30 minutes Total time: 70 minutes (plus about 1 hour cool time) Yields about 12 servings

Ingredients:

Cake:

• 1 3/4 cup AP flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup cocoa
• 2 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup hot water (read notes above)

Cherry Soak:

• 2 cups pitted cherries
• 4 tbls lemon juice
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 8 tbls water
• pinch of salt

Extra:

• Whipped cream
• Cherries(optional)
• Chocolate shavings(optional)

Instructions:

1. Combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a medium-sized bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the milk, oil, vanilla extract, and eggs.
2. Slowly mix together dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until smooth.
3. In small increments, add the hot liquid.
4. Pour batter into greased and floured bunt cake pan and bake for 3o minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Then cool for 1 hour. While the cake is cooling make the cherry soak.
5. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and cook on medium/high heat for five minutes. Begin stirring when the mixture starts boiling and don’t stop until the five minutes are over.
6. Once the cake is cooled, take it out of the tin and cut the cake horizontally separating the top and bottom half. Pour the cherry soak equally on the top and bottom halves of the cake.
7. Before joining the halves back together pipe whipped cream into the bottom half. Join the cake back together and frost with whipped cream.
8. Decorate cake with cherry halves and chocolate.
9. Cut into slices and enjoy with your friends and family!

Notes: if you would like a bit heavier of a cake, try substituting the whipped cream with a cream cheese frosting.

Did you make this recipe? If you did, tag me on Instagram and leave a comment below letting me know what you thought!

Love, Ana 😘