High Altitude White Forest Cake
This white forest cake is a vanilla version of a black forest cake, with vanilla cake layers filled with cherry preserves, frosted with chocolate chip whipped cream frosting, and decorated with fresh cherries.
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
- 6-inch Round Cake Pans (x3)
- Electric Mixer (Stand or Hand-Held)
Ingredients
Vanilla Cake
- 2 ⅓ cups cake flour, fluffed, spooned and leveled
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp coarse Kosher salt (if using table salt, use half the amount)
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 large egg white (save the extra yolk for another use)
- 1 cup full fat buttermilk
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter, melted
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Whipped Cream
- 4 oz block cream cheese, cold
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 1 cup cold heavy whipping cream
- 2 oz finely chopped dark chocolate
- fresh cherries, for decorating
Filling
- ½ cup cherry preserves or jam
- 1 oz finely chopped dark chocolate
Instructions
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 F, and position a rack in the center of the oven. Lightly spray the bottoms of three 6-inch cake pans with non-stick baking spray.Baker's Note: Today's recipe is a slightly smaller version of my original vanilla cake. For 8-inch cake layers, make the full vanilla cake recipe found here, and double the filling/whipped cream.
- In a bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
- Separately, whisk together the eggs, egg white, buttermilk, melted butter, oil and vanilla, until smooth. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and whisk just until combined.
- Divide the batter between the cake pans, and bake the cakes for about 25 minutes, until the tops spring back when gently touched, or a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean.
- Set the pans on a cooling rack, and cool the cakes completely before assembling. If needed, trim a small portion of the domed top off the cakes to level them for stacking.
Whipped Cream
- In a bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the cream cheese with the powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth.
- Stream in the cold heavy whipping cream and beat on medium speed until soft, thick, fluffy peaks form that hold their shape.
- Fold the 2 ounces chopped chocolate into the whipped cream.
Filling and Assembly
- Place one of the cake layers on a serving plate or cake pedestal. Spread with a very small amount of the whipped cream, just enough to soak into the cake. If you add too much whipped cream between the cake layers, your cake layers will slide around in a slippery mess.
- Top with half the cherry jam, then sprinkle with half the (1 ounce) chopped chocolate.
- Repeat with another layer of cake, a small amount of whipped cream, and the rest of the cherry jam and chopped chocolate.
- Place the last cake layer on top, then frost the cake all over with the whipped cream.
- Decorate with fresh cherries. Serve the cake immediately, or refrigerate in a cake carrier until ready to serve.
Notes
Keep the leftover cake refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
For a cake with similar flavors, but that doesn't require refrigeration, you can replace the whipped cream frosting with vanilla buttercream.
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