How the top looks

A cut piece of cake

This Black Forest Cake can be made 2 ways. My way or my other way. Allow me to explain.

I needed a large sheet cake to serve roughly 40 people. I knew I wanted to make a Black Forest Cake because I was serving Octoberfest food. But making food for that many people requires planning. And refrigerator space.

So, I decided as the top layer of my Black Forest sheet cake, I would use frosting rather than whipped cream. Made sense at the time. (I would have to refrigerate this huge sheet cake if I used whipped cream. Whereas frosting would be fine sitting on top of the cake at room temperature for a few hours.)

So, as planned, I served this cake to 36 people yesterday. And not one of them told me they never wanted me to serve this dessert again. In fact, the guests I heard from proclaimed it a winner. And to top things off, my dear friend Margo requested this cake for her upcoming birthday. So, there you go.  

What I told a few of our guests, and now I am telling you, was that I glommed this recipe together using my all-time favorite chocolate cake recipe. Then for the sauce, I agonized over whether to use some kind of cherry liqueur or cherry flavored brandy (think Kirschwasser) in the sauce. But finally, I chose to use bourbon, my favorite liquor to flavor everything from caramel sauce to BBQ sauce. And I think I made the right decision. Because bourbon lends such a lovely sweetness to all kinds of dishes, and it didn’t fail me in the cheery sauce either.

Since I was under cooking/baking time restraints, not to mention refrigerator space limitations, I made the cake on Wednesday and froze it. Then I made the cherry sauce on Thursday and refrigerated it. I left making the frosting until Sunday morning, the day of the home concert. And using frosting rather than whipped cream topping on the cake, I could leave the cake on a counter until needed.

At 5:00 am Sunday morning I woke up in a panic. How in the wide world of sports was I going to spread frosting over a sauce? (And why hadn’t I considered this aspect of putting the cake together a bit earlier?) But here I was on Sunday morning with 36 hungry mouths to feed (including Andy and me) and our guests due to arrive at 1:00 pm. And of course, with a lot of other last-minute food details that needed my attention.

So, Mr. C. took the cake out of the freezer when he first got up Sunday morning. A little while later I slathered on the cherry sauce, and then the fun began. (Just as I had predicted would happen at 5:00 am.)

Frosting absolutely does not like being spread over sauce. In fact, it rebels at the very thought of being accommodating to the poor cook who failed to take this fact of nature into consideration. But I won in the end. As will you if you decide to make this cake and use frosting instead of at the last-minute slathering on a thick coating of whipped cream. But truly, either using a butter cream frosting or a lovely cherry flavored whipped cream, it matters not. Both are going to make for one darn good piece of cake. And perfect for this time of year.

Well, that’s it for today. If you want to know how I made it work (spreading frosting over a sauce) you’ll just have to read the directions below. And yes, I made a double batch of the cake batter, cherry sauce, and the frosting to feed my guests. A bit left, but then that’s a win for Mr. C. and me!

And with that, as always, I wish you peace and love.

CHOCOLATE CAKE:  

1 c. unsalted butter, room temperature

3 c. packed brown sugar

4 eggs, room temperature

1 T. vanilla extract

3 c. unbleached all-purpose flour. fluffed

¾ c. cocoa powder

1 T. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

1 rounded tsp. instant espresso powder

1½ c. water

1-1/3 c. sour cream

Cream the butter and brown sugar together. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the vanilla. Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, and espresso powder. Add to creamed mixture alternately with water and sour cream, beating well after each addition.

Pour into a greased and lightly floured 10×16-inch cake pan, or 1 9×13-inch cake pan and 1 8×8-inch cake pan. Bake in a pre-heated 350-degree oven for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Don’t over-bake! Remove from oven and place pan on a wire rack to cool completely. Or freeze until needed.  

TART CHERRY SAUCE WITH BOURBON:  

2 lbs. frozen pitted tart cherries, halved

¼ c. bourbon

6 T. cherry juice (from defrosted cherries)

2 T. cornstarch

¾ c. granulated sugar

Place the frozen cherries in a colander set over a bowl. Allow the cherries to thaw. (This takes several hours.) Save the juice for this recipe and for the buttercream frosting or whipped cream topping.

Whisk the bourbon, cherry juice, and cornstarch together in a large heavy pot. Add the sugar and defrosted cherries. Bring to a boil, stirring to avoid burning.  

Once the sauce thickens up a bit, remove from heat, cool, and refrigerate until needed. (It will thicken up more as it cools.)

BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

½ c. unsalted butter, room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3 T. cherry juice (from thawing the frozen cherries), or more if needed

tiny pinch of kosher salt

4 c. powdered sugar, or more as needed

whole milk or heavy cream, if needed

Beat the butter until soft and fluffy. Add the vanilla, cherry juice, and kosher salt, mixing until thoroughly combined.

Add the powdered sugar on low speed. Add more cherry juice or milk or cream a few teaspoons at a time until the frosting is light and fluffy and to your desired consistency. (The frosting needs to be very soft to spread over the cherry sauce.) (And I use the term “spread” very lightly!)

WHIPPED CREAM TOPPING

2 c. (1 pint) heavy whipping cream, or more if you like lots of whipped cream

½ tsp. vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract, or more to taste

2 tsp. cherry juice, or more to taste

6 T. powdered sugar, or more to taste

Whip the cream to hard peaks. Add the vanilla bean paste, cherry juice, and powdered sugar. Whip until blended.

ASSEMBLE THE CAKE:

chocolate shavings

Top with Frosting:

Spread the cherry filling over the cooled cake with an offset spatula. Place the cake in your freezer and chill for 30 minutes to set.

Taking small dollops of frosting at a time, gently spread the frosting over cherry filling with an offset spatula. The sauce will come through during this process, but it looks nice and tastes wonderful. Top with chocolate shavings.

The cake can sit at room temperature for several hours.

Top with Whipped Cream:

Carefully spread the whipped cream evenly over the cherry sauce. Top with chocolate shavings. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve, but not more than 2-3 hours.