Black Forest Sheet Cake

Black Forest sheet cake is an easy Black Forest cake. It has a moist chocolate cake, cherry topping, and homemade whipped cream—all of the classic flavors made simple.

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 40

Total Time 1 10

Servings servings

Calories 297kcal

Author Kate @ I Heart Eating

Ingredients

Cake

1 ¾ cups all purpose flour
1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
¾ cups unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk at room temperature
½ cup oil
2 large eggs at room temperature
1 cup hot water not boiling
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Cherry topping

1 pound frozen pitted dark sweet cherries 16 ounces
½ cup water
¼ cup cherry liqueur
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Whipped cream and toppings

2 cups cold heavy cream
⅓ cup powdered sugar
½ teaspoon cream of tartar optional (for stiffer whipped cream)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Chocolate shavings for decorating
Fresh cherries or other cherry toppings for decorating

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
1 ¾ cups all purpose flour, 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar, ¾ cups unsweetened cocoa powder, 2 teaspoons baking soda, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1 teaspoon kosher salt
In a large bowl, whisk together buttermilk and oil.
1 cup buttermilk, ½ cup oil
Whisk in eggs, one at a time.
2 large eggs
Stir in dry ingredients until just combined.
Add hot water and vanilla. Whisk until just combined.
2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 cup hot water
Pour batter into the prepared baking dish.
Bake 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely.
While the cake is baking, prepare the cherry topping. Combine all ingredients in a large saucepan. Bring to a simmer, while constantly stirring, and simmer over low heat for about 3-5 minutes, or until cherries have softened and liquid has thickened. Break cherries into smaller pieces with a spoon or potato masher.
1 pound frozen pitted dark sweet cherries, ½ cup water, ¼ cup cherry liqueur, 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, 3 tablespoons cornstarch, 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Remove cherry topping from heat. Let cool completely. You can add a bit more water if it thickens too much once cooled.
Just before serving, make the whipped cream topping. Add heavy cream, powdered sugar, cream of tartar (if using), and vanilla to your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk for about 4-7 minutes, or until stiff peaks form.
2 cups cold heavy cream, ⅓ cup powdered sugar, ½ teaspoon cream of tartar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Assemble cake by removing the cake from the baking pan and placing it on a serving platter.
Top with cherry topping.
Then add whipped cream on top. Decorate with chocolate shavings, fresh cherries, maraschino cherries, or cherry topping.

Notes

Cocoa powder: I use regular unsweetened cocoa powder in this recipe. I’ve also used Hershey’s special dark cocoa powder. However, I haven’t tried Dutch-processed cocoa powder with this cake.
Salt: If you don’t have kosher salt, use 1/2 teaspoon table salt instead.
Buttermilk: Regular or low-fat will work. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make a quick substitute with this homemade buttermilk substitute.
Oil: Feel free to use another type of neutral oil like canola oil or olive oil.
Water: I use hot tap water about (150F).
Semisweet baking chocolate: If you’d like a sweeter mousse, you can use milk baking chocolate.
Milk: Any milk from skim to whole milk will work.
Nutrition values are estimates.

Nutrition