Black Forest Cake Recipe

If you like Ho Hos, then you’ll love this Black Forest Cake Recipe. It is like eating a giant Ho Hos with the added deliciousness of cherry pie. This recipe come from my mother-in-law, Karen Orley. She is the absolute best baker I’ve ever known and she tries to teach me as I continue to call for clarification on the recipes that my husband copied over when we were first married.

This recipe is one of my husband’s favorite dessert recipes, because it does taste like a giant Ho Ho, only better. Like father, like son, Elijah asked for this cake for his 6th birthday. Luckily he wanted it for our family-only celebration so there was no stress to make it look pretty as I am not a cake decorator. That being said, the posted pictures are more of a tutorial, I hope your cake looks better. It will for sure taste great and that is all that really matters, right?

This recipe is easy to moderate.

Black Forest Cake Ingredients

• 2 20-ounce cans cherry pie filling
• 2 9″ chocolate cake layers (I use Duncan Hines Devil’s Food Cake which requires 1 cake mix, 3 eggs, 1-1/2 cups water, and 1/3 cup oil.)
• 4 cups cold whipping cream
• 1/3 cup + 1TB powder sugar

Black Forest Cake Directions

1. Split each of the 2 cooled cake layers in half horizontally.
2. Crumble 1 cooled cake layer and set aside.
3. Beat cold whipping cream and all of the powered sugar with electric mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form. (I cool my beaters and bowl in freezer for 10 minutes before use, makes this step super easy.)
4. Reserve 2 cups whipped cream for decorative piping.
5. Place 1 cake layer on serving plate.
6. Spread 1 – 1-1/2 cups whipped cream on cake layer.
7. Top with 1 cup cherry topping.
8. Top with 2nd cake layer.
9. Spread 1 – 1-1/2 cups whipped cream on cake layer.
10. Top with 1 cup cherry topping.
11. Top with 3rd cake layer.
12. Frost sides of cake with remaining whipped cream.
13. Pat reserved cake crumbs onto the sides of the cake, over whipped cream.
14. Spoon the rest of the whipped cream, about 2 cups into pastry bag.
15. Pipe around the top and bottom edges of cake. (I build the top layer of piping up a couple layers so it can hold the cherry topping.)
16. Spoon the rest of the cherry topping over the top of the cake, inside the whipped cream circle.
17. Enjoy! Refrigerate leftovers.

So, this is only the 2nd time I’ve made this recipe. Let me tell you, it was delicious! However, I have zip, zero, absolutely no experience at cake decorating. But I tried. Below are pictures of the process. Once I master this cake, perhaps I’ll upload new pictures. 🙂

Cindy

Founder and Lead Blogger at Akron Ohio Moms

Cindy is the top Akron Blogger with her own take on awesome brands for families, where to vacation for families, a beat on local activities and family fun, a knack for getting moms to share , and a house that is always 2 weeks away from a complete remodel!