Flourless Black Forest Chocolate Cake
Fudgy Flourless Chocolate Cake topped with Whipped Cream & Boozy Cherries, this version of Black Forest Cake will make your tastebuds sing!
My love for Flourless Chocolate Cake goes way, way back. By way, way back, I mean 4 years back. My younger daughter was rushed to the emergency room and then the same night she was admitted to the hospital. It was dinner time and the hospital nurses offered us hospital dinner.
At first I was going to politely decline, you know, my kid is in the hospital food is the last thing I am thinking about, besides how good could a hospital food be anyway, but then I said “sure”.
I don’t remember what entree they brought, but I do remember the funny looking cupcake, or muffin, or cupcake without the frosting thing sitting on the side of the tray. It didn’t look too appealing, but I tried it anyway.
I had never had anything like that before. As I took a bite, it felt like a muffin, but a second later it melted into a something that felt like a truffle. Deeeviiiine! With each bite, I wanted to close my eyes and devour it slowly, enjoying every single crumb of that cake. Who would’ve known that hospitals can make stuff like that? Not me, that’s for sure! That was my first introduction to Flourless Chocolate Cake.
After that, I knew that I had to make Flourless Chocolate Cake myself.
Visiting a local Boulangerie several days ago with my sister, she ordered a gluten free black forest cake. She let me have a bite and it was so good! I mean, not really an original idea to combine the flourless chocolate cake with whipped cream & alcohol soaked cherries, but wow! just wow! So I made a cake similar to that one in combination of flavors. It’s dense base of flourless chocolate cake is balanced out with slightly sweetened Chantilly cream and tart cherries. Truly wonderful combination! You should give this cake a try! It’s not too labor intensive, it does not need to sit in the fridge to soak in the flavors like other cakes, because it’s good as soon as you make it!
Flourless Black Forest Cake
Ingredients for the Flourless Chocolate Cake:
- large eggs, separated
- sugar, granulated
- semisweet chocolate, chopped or chips
- butter, unsalted
- instant espresso powder (optional)
- Pinch of Salt
- vanilla extract
- cherries, canned, drained
- Grand Marnier or Rum
Chantilly Cream:
- heavy cream
- powdered sugar
- vanilla extract
Also:
- Chocolate Bar, for shavings
How to make Flourless Black Forest Cake:
In a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, melt 1 pound chocolate and 1/2 cup butter until melted.
Meanwhile, in a bowl of a mixer fitted with whisk attachment whip egg whites until stiff peaks, about 2 minutes. Transfer egg whites to a large mixing bowl.
In the bowl of the mixer whip egg yolks for 30 seconds on high with a whisk attachment, gradually add the sugar and continue whipping until pale in color and the mixture flows in a ribbon when the whisk is raised.
Add egg yolk mixture into chocolate in 2 additions, carefully folding it in after each.
Add egg white mixture in halves to the chocolate mixture and carefully fold it in until no streaks of egg whites are seen.
Pour the batter into a 9 inch spring pan that has been lined with parchment paper & sprayed with non stick cooking spray. Put the wet cake strip around the pan.
Bake in preheated to 350F oven, for 30-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with only several crumbs.
Once baked, run a thin knife around the inside of the baking pan and allow to cool completely.
Meanwhile, drain cherries and measure out 1 cup. Add 3 tablespoons of Grand Marnier and stir to coat the cherries, leave to soak in the alcohol.
Make Chantilly Cream:
In a bowl of a mixer, combine heavy cream, powdered sugar & vanilla extract. Whip until stiff peaks.
Assemble the Cake:
Drain the cherries from the Grand Marnier. Pour the liquid all over the cake. Cover the cake with whipped cream. Place cherries everywhere over the cake.
Fit a pastry bag with a decorative tip. Fill the bag with the rest of whip cream. Pipe decor on top of the cake to your liking.
Then scrape it off because you don’t like it, put in a star tip and pipe on top of the cake again. Just kidding, do it right the first time, unlike me.
To add shavings of chocolate to the top of the cake. Heat the chocolate bar in 5 second interval for 20-25 seconds. The bar should not be warm at all.
Using a vegetable peeler, go along the thin side of the bar and you will get chocolate curls. You can do it right over the cake, or do it over a paper towel then transfer only the best ones to the top cake top.
Now either eat the cake or put it in the fridge until you will 🙂 That is it, folks!
Try these other great Cake recipes:
- Polish Cake Recipe – A combination of soft shortbread cake layers, tart jam, crunchy meringue, and roasted walnuts.
- Peaches and Cream Layer Cake – Soft yellow sponge cake with sweet cream and peaches.
- Hazelnut Meringue Nutella Cake – Layers of Chocolate Poppyseed Cake, Hazelnut Meringue and Nutella Custard Buttercream.
Flourless Black Forest Cake
Simple flourless chocolate cake made with boozy cherries and
a homemade whipped cream.
Ingredients
Ingredients for the Flourless Chocolate Cake
- 1 lb semisweet chocolate chopped or chips
- 1/2 cup 1 stick butter, unsalted
- 1 Tbsp instant espresso powder optional
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 8 large eggs separated
- Pinch of Salt
- 3/4 cup sugar granulated
Grand Marnier Cherries
- 1 cup cherries canned, drained
- 3 Tbsp Grand Marnier or Rum
Chantilly Cream
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
Also
- Chocolate Bar for shavings
Instructions
How to make Flourless Black Forest Cake
-
Prep: Preheat the oven to 350F oven. Line the bottom of the 9 inch springform pan with parchment paper and spray the sides with non stick spray. Set aside.
Measure out all of the ingredients needed for the recipe.
-
Chocolate mixture: In a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, melt 1 pound chocolate and 1/2 cup butter until melted.. Then, stir in the vanilla and the espresso powder until it's all smooth.
-
Whip eggwhites: Meanwhile, in a bowl of a mixer fitted with whisk attachment whip 8 egg whites until stiff peaks (~ 2 min). Do not overwhip or the eggwhites will look chunky. This will make the chocolate cake drier. Transfer egg whites to a large mixing bowl.
-
Whip egg yolks: To the same mixer bowl add 8 egg yolks and whip them for 30 seconds on high with a whisk attachment. Gradually add 3/4 cup sugar and continue whipping until pale in color and the mixture flows in a ribbon when the whisk is raise (~15 min).
-
Combine the chocolate and the egg yolk mixture in 2 additions, carefully folding it in after each. Now, add egg white mixture in halves and carefully fold it in until no streaks of egg whites are seen.
-
Bake: Pour the batter into a prepared 9 inch springform pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with only several crumbs (~35-45 minutes).
-
Remove from the baking pan: Once baked, losen up the cake from the cake pan by running a thin knife around the edges of the cake, then removing the cake ring. Allow to cool completely.
Grand Marnier soaked Cherries
-
Meanwhile, drain cherries and measure out 1 cup cherries. Add 3 tablespoons of Grand Marnier and stir to coat the cherries, leave to soak in the alcohol, stirring occasionally. This step can be done several days ahead to better soak the cherries.
Make Chantilly Cream:
-
In a bowl of a mixer, combine 2 cups heavy cream, 1/2 cup powdered sugar & 1 tbsp vanilla extract. Whip on medium speed until stiff peaks.. Reserve about 1/2 cup of whipped cream for piping.
Assemble the Cake
-
Drain the cherries from the Grand Marnier. Drizzle the liquid all over the cake. Cover the cake with whipped cream. Sprinkle cherries over the top. .
-
Fit a pastry bag with a decorative tip. Fill the bag with the rest of whip cream. Pipe decor on top of the cake to your liking.
-
Using a vegetable peeler shave the side of a chocolate bar right over the cake. If the chocolate breaks as it's being shaven, place it in the microvave for a couple seconds at a time, then try again. Keep popping it in the microwave until you're able to get uniform curls. Do not melt.
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Refrigerate the cake until ready to eat. Leave at room temperature for 30 minutes before eating.
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xc
I’ve been baking my cake for 45 minutes and it is still very wet inside. Also, I realized that you have vanilla, salt and espresso powder in the ingredients list but it didn’t instruct where to add these so I completely left them out. I know espresso powder is optional but wonder how the other will affect the cake. We will see. Thanks
keep baking until there are only a couple of crumbs on the toothpick inserted into the middle.
Can I use sweet cherries (in syrup)?
Thank you!
Hi Olga, it might be a bit too sweet in combination with the cake and the cream.
Yeah it makes sense 🙂 Thank you!
What is the “wet cake strip” that is wrapped around the pan before baking?
It’s a fabric strip that is dampened with water to promote even rise and baking of the cake. It prevents the formation of a dome on cakes. You can get them HERE (affiliate).
OMG this recipe is absolutely amazing!!! Thank you so much for sharing!!
I made this today for a baby shower (the pregnant lady is gluten-free), and everyone loved it! I made just the cake and Chantilly cream parts and left out the cherries, and it turned out amazing, even though I cooked it a little bit too long. And it looked beautiful! Thank you; this recipe is absolutely a keeper!
That’s great Katherine! Thanks for taking the time to share your feedback!
Wow, wow! Marina, that looks amazing!!! Just went back to GF and this cake will completely satisfy my cravings! I don’t bake cakes very often (read never) and not sure what you mean by a wet strip–is this something I can buy anywhere or at a special store?
wow that looks absolutely amazing!!!!
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That looks so good! I love flourless chocolate cake 🙂
Oh, I wish I could have it with my cup of coffee right now! I love the idea of a flourless cake. I actually got the ingredients for one specific recipe but waited too long and then decided to lay off cakes for a while. One of those days I will make it! Until then I will enjoy looking at yours!
I used to make this in a mug and top it with a spoonful of ice-cream so if you ever try it, try it this way too 🙂 it’s great warm 🙂
This is amazing! I remember making one of these in my Patisserie classes at college! Delicious recipe! 🙂
It’s one great cake, what can I say )))
Wow!
🙂 Thanks for commenting Sharon!