High Altitude Black Forest Sheet Cake
Black forest sheet cake, featuring a moist dark chocolate cake that's soaked in tart cherry juice or liqueur, homemade cherry compote, whipped cream, and chocolate shavings.
All recipes on Curly Girl Kitchen are developed for high altitude at 5,280 feet. See FAQs for adjusting to higher or lower elevations.
Equipment
- 9x13 Baking Dish
- Electric Mixer (Stand or Hand-Held)
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
- ¾ cup unsweetened Dutch processed cocoa powder
- 2 tbsp instant espresso powder or instant coffee
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup Kirschwasser (cherry brandy), or tart cherry juice, for a non-alcoholic option
Cherry Compote
- 2 lbs fresh or frozen pitted cherries (preferably a mix of sweet and tart cherries)
- 3 tbsp Kirsch or tart cherry juice
- 1 cup granulated sugar
Whipped Cream
- 4 oz block cream cheese, softened at room temperature for 1 hour
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream
- fresh cherries and chocolate shavings, for decorating
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Lightly spray a 9x13 inch baking pan with non-stick baking spray.
- In a large bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, espresso powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
- Separately, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, milk, oil and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and whisk the batter until smooth.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan. Bake for about 38-45 minutes, until a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Set the pan on a cooling rack and let the cake cool for 30 minutes.
- Use the end of a chopstick or wooden skewer to poke holes in the cake, then pour the cherry brandy or juice over the cake.
- Set the cake in the refrigerator to chill.
Cherry Compote
- While the cake is baking, you can get the cherry compote started. In a saucepan, combine the cherries, brandy/juice and sugar.
- Over medium heat, bring the cherries to a boil. Stirring frequently, cook the cherries until most of the liquid has evaporated and the cherries become thick and jammy.
- Spread the cherry compote over the cake, then refrigerate the cake for several hours, until chilled. At this point, you can also cover the cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight to serve it the next day.
Whipped Cream
- When you're ready to serve the cake, make the whipped cream. This is a stabilized whipped cream that will not deflate on the assembled cake.
- In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or using a hand-held electric mixer), beat the cold cream cheese with the powdered sugar for about 1 minute on medium speed, until smooth.
- Scrape the bowl down, then add the vanilla and about 1/4 cup of the cream. Beat on medium speed for 30-60 seconds to smooth out any lumps of cream cheese.
- Add the remainder of the cream, and switch to the whisk attachment. (You can also continue to use the paddle attachment, but it will take a few minutes longer).
- Whip the cream on medium high speed for several minutes, stopping to scrape the bowl down once or twice, until thick fluffy peaks form that hold their shape.
- Spread the whipped cream over the cake, then decorate with fresh cherries and chocolate shavings, chocolate curls or chopped chocolate.
Notes
Store leftover cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
https://curlygirlkitchen.com/