This easy recipe for Eggless Black Forest Cake is delicious and made a little healthier using whole wheat flour. Don’t worry though, this yummy eggless black forest cake recipe still boasts a fabulous taste and texture that’ll have your guests coming back for more.
Prep Time: 20minutes mins
Cook Time: 30minutes mins
Ingredients for Black Forest Cake
For Chocolate Sponge
- 1 cup whole wheat flour (leveled) – 120 grams
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 pinch salt
- ¾ cup sugar – 150 grams, raw sugar or white sugar
- 1 cup cold water
- ¼ cup oil – any neutral oil
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla essence
For Sugar Syrup
- 1 tablespoon sugar – raw or white sugar
- 3 tablespoon water
For Cream Frosting
- 200 ml whipping cream or heavy cream, cold or chilled
- 5 tablespoons icing sugar confectioner’s sugar, castor sugar, or powdered sugar
For Layers
- ¼ cup chopped red cherries – glazed or canned cherries or fresh sweet cherries
- ½ cup chocolate shavings – bittersweet, dark or semi-sweet, add as needed
For the Top Layer And Sides
For the Top Layer And Sides
- 10 to 11 cherries – glazed, canned or fresh, add as needed
- ⅓ to ½ cup chocolate shavings – bittersweet, dark or semi-sweet, optional
Directions for Black Forest Cake
1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius/392 degrees Fahrenheit. Brush or grease a 7.5-inch pan or two 6-inch baking pans with oil. Instead of brushing the pans with oil, choose to line them with parchment paper.
2. Sift or sieve 1 cup whole wheat flour, 3 tablespoons cocoa powder, a pinch of salt, and ½ teaspoon baking soda onto a plate. Be sure to use good-quality cocoa powder.
3. in another pan or bowl, take ¾ cup sugar and add 1 cup cold water.
Tip: Want your cake to be light and spongy? Note that the water has to be cold. Keep the water in the refrigerator for an hour or so to cool it. The cold water helps to give this sponge cake its light and delicate consistency.
4. Stir so that the sugar dissolves.
5. Add ¼ cup neutral-tasting oil. I added sunflower oil, but vegetable oil, avocado oil, or canola oil will all work.
6. Stir briskly so that everything is mixed well.
7. Add 1 tablespoon lemon juice. If you do not have lemon juice, use 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar or white vinegar.
8. Now add ½ teaspoon vanilla extract.
9. Stir and mix well briskly for 2 to 3 minutes to get an even emulsified mixture.
10. Add the sieved dry ingredients to the wet mixture.
11. Using a wired whisk, mix everything well. There should be no lumps in the cake batter.
11. Using a wired whisk, mix everything well. There should be no lumps in the cake batter.
13. Pour the cake batter into a greased cake pan of 7.5 inches diameter x 2 inches height. Or use two round cake pans (6 inches diameter) and divide the batter equally between two pans as I have done.
Tap the pan on the countertop so that the extra air bubbles are let out.
14. Place the pans in the center rack of your oven. Bake the cakes in a preheated oven at 200 degrees Celsius/392 Fahrenheit for 35 to 40 mins. Since temperatures vary from oven to oven, do keep an eye on your cakes.
For baking in a convection mode of microwave oven, preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius for 15 minutes. Then bake the cake at 180 degrees Celsius for 30 to 35 minutes.
For doneness, check the cake with a toothpick. The toothpick should come out clean. If the toothpick is sticky, then place the cake back in the oven and continue to bake for some more minutes.
Tip 1: Only open the oven door after ¾ of the cake is baked. If you keep opening the oven door many times, high chances are that your cake will sink in the center.
Tip 2: Working ahead of schedule? Feel free to stop here and wrap/refrigerate your cakes overnight, or freeze them for up to 1 month before assembling and frosting them.
Whip Cream
Before frosting, let the cakes cool completely. Place the pans on a wired tray and let the cakes cool at room temperature. I make the cakes a day ahead and refrigerate them in a covered container.
15. In a bowl take 200 ml chilled whipping cream and 5 tablespoons icing sugar (a.k.a confectioner’s sugar or powdered sugar).
Note: If you live in India and do not have access to whipping cream, you can use the Amul brand of heavy whipping cream. But with Amul fresh cream, you will get soft peaks in the cream. You can also use heavy cream from any other brand.
16. At the highest speed, whip until the cream becomes stiff. This process will vary depending on the power of your mixer and the fat content in the cream.
It may take 8 to 10 minutes if you use the Indian brand of Amul cream. To check, just invert the bowl. If the cream does not fall, the cream has stiff peaks.
Tip: Be sure not to over-whip your cream. While you can use a stand mixer for this process, I recommend using a hand mixer so you don’t walk away from your whipped cream and return to an accidental bowl of butter. When the cream reaches stiff peaks, STOP.
17. Here’s the consistency of the cream.
Assemble & Frost Sponge Layers
Note: If you have baked one cake, then slice the cake neatly from the center with a large knife or serrated knife. You can also use dental floss to slice the cake into two. If crumbs fall, collect them (they’re delicious!) and save them for when you decorate the cake.
18. Place one layer of the cake with the bottom side facing you. NOTE: If the top of your cake is domed, then slice the top domed portion evenly so it will lay flat.
Brush the cake lightly and evenly with sugar syrup. To make sugar syrup, dissolve 1 tablespoon of sugar with 3 tablespoons of water. You can also use rum or wine instead of water.
19. Now with a spatula spread about ¼ or ⅓ of the whipped cream on top of the cake.
20. Then add a layer of finely chopped red cherries. You can use canned red cherries, glazed cherries, or fresh sweet cherries.
Do not use canned maraschino cherries as they have a lot of preservatives added to them and smell awful according to me.
If you live in India, use glazed red cherries or you can use candied Karonda berries. You will find the Indian variety of candied karonda berries in most shops. They are also called karonda murabba in Hindi.
21. Sprinkle grated chocolate or chocolate shavings all over. I always grate or shave a bar of dark chocolate. Use any good quality semi-sweet, dark, or bitter-sweet chocolate.
22. Cover with the second cake and brush the top with the sugar syrup.
23. Spread again ⅓ part of the cream on the top evenly. Spread on the sides of the cake too. If you have a rotating cake stand, this will make frosting the cake much easier.
Tip: If you don’t have a cake stand, then use a small, flat plate covered with aluminum foil and place the cake on it before icing. The foil-covered plate along with the cake is kept on a heavy board. This way you can easily rotate the foil-covered plate while spreading icing on the sides.
Make Eggless Black Forest Cake
24. Add the remaining whipped cream to a piping bag and use any decorative nozzle. Decorate the cake however you like – I simply piped some rosettes around the top edge.
Don’t worry about design flaws as we will be adding more grated chocolate on the cakes, so any imperfections can be hidden!
25. Place whole cherries on the cake. Top with some chocolate shavings or grated chocolate.
You can add the amount of cherries you want to make a neat-looking eggless black forest cake. I suggest using one cherry per serving, as this will help you cut the cake evenly.
26. Now cover the sides of the cake with the chocolate shavings. Cup your fingers and take some chocolate shavings in them. Gently pat and press them on the cream layer with your fingers.
Turn the cake stand as you go on placing the chocolate shavings on the cream layer all over the sides. Some chocolate shavings will fall on the cake stand. Collect these and use them for the decoration on the sides.
28. When the cream icing has set well, slice and serve eggless black forest cake. Enjoy the compliments of your impressed friends and family. Good work!
Serving Suggestions and Storage
Serve black forest cake as is or for a rich luxurious treat pair with a chocolate or vanilla ice cream. Enjoy as an after-meal dessert or as a sweet snack any time of the day.
For birthdays or any other celebrations, if you plan to make a tall layer or a large cake, scale the recipe ingredients proportionately. Bake in two 7.5 inches pans or four 6 inches pans.
Do consider your oven size so that it accommodates all the pans easily. All the pans have to be kept in the center rack of the oven for even baking.
The eggless black forest cake stays well for about 2 to 3 days in the refrigerator. Keep the cake in a covered box or container when storing in the fridge.
Expert Tips and Tricks
- To make the work of building a beautiful layer cake seem less daunting, I suggest you split the tasks into two days. Bake the cake a day before (or up to one ahead of time if you have a freezer!) and do the frosting the next day. The cake can be refrigerated overnight (or frozen for up to one month) and the frosting can be done the next day.
- If you don’t have a cake stand, then use a small flat plate covered with aluminum foil and place the cake on it before icing. The foil-covered plate along with the cake is kept on a heavy board. This way you can easily rotate the foil-covered plate while spreading icing on the sides.
- Use chilled cream and equipment for making whipped cream. You want to whip the cream in as little time as possible to prevent a grainy texture, and keeping your equipment cold helps the cream stay cold while you work. You need the cream to be cold so that it can emulsify properly and the fat can hold shape to keep the air in the cream.
- Want your cake to be light and spongy? Be sure to use cold water as the recipe indicates. Temperature is very important when it comes to the chemical reactions of baking, and cold water is important to creating a spongy consistency in this eggless sponge cake.
- Keep the serving platter clean from decorating by laying small strips of parchment down around the edges of the cake. When you’re done decorating, pull them out and your platter will look perfect!
- Whole wheat flour works nicely here, but if you are not a fan, feel free to include all-purpose flour or pastry flour.