Black Forest Cake

I’ve always loved black forest cake, and this one is amazing- I added lots of fresh cherry preserves and a subtle but delicious chocolate ganache between each layer. I made a tall and thin cake (4 layers cut from a 9x14 sheet cake) but it would be pretty easy to double this recipe and do a standard double layer 9” round cake. 

Chocolate Cake:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/8 tsp Baking powder

1/2 baking soda

1/4 cup cocoa powder

3/4 sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup canola oil

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting:

2 cups non-dairy margarine

2 cups powdered sugar (preferably sifted)

1 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate Ganache:

1 cup margarine

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar

Cherry jam or preserves

Let’s begin by making the cake. Preheat your oven to 350 and mix together the first 6 ingredients until throughly combined in a large bowl. Mix the wet ingredients in another bowl and then combine the two together until they form a batter. Pour into your desire pan and bake it!

In the meantime, get all your fillings ready.

To make the frosting, combine the margarine, powdered sugar, and vanilla using a hand mixer until fluffy. Cover and set aside.

To make the ganache, combine the cocoa powder, margarine, and sugar in a small bowl  until dense and completely combined.

Take the cake out of the oven, and cut it into whatever circles or squares you want to layer (if you doubled the recipe and are using two round pans, be sure to cut the domed cake tops off before stacking.) LET IT COOL, then frost! Make sure all your ingredients are nice and cold for an optimal frosting experience. A layer of cake, a layer of ganache, a layer of frosting, a layer of jam, then repeat as desired. Frost the whole thing when you’re done, and have fun adding toppings (I recommend maraschino cherries, if you have them) Slice and enjoy!