Uploaded April 2022 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
The black forest cake is a delicious formal cake with layers of chocolate cake, cherry jam, brandy, iced and filled with whipped cream traditionally, though some may use vanilla or white chocolate mousse as a filling. One might even find this cake made with a buttercream frosting. However, rather than make a cake, we provide here a recipe for making brownies in the style of black forest cake, by saucing them with a boozy cherry compote and topping them with whipped cream.
The basis of the recipe is a lovely, rich cocoa brownie which is not overly sweet. This allows it to convey a profound dark chocolate flavor, sweetened by the cherry sauce and the whipped cream. To increase sweetness, add up to one additional cup of white sugar to the brownie batter, or add chocolate chips or other sweet garnish to the batter instead.
If a nonmetal pan is used, the cooking time will generally require adjustment upwards. Metal conducts heat more readily, and so the brownies will cook faster in metal. Since this recipe has a long cooking time to begin with, one might expect poor results if a ceramic or glass pan is used. Also, to reduce the glycemic impact of the dessert, we add some soluble and quite undetectable dietary fibre to the cherry sauce. These are somewhat specialized ingredients, and if you’d rather not use them, just leave them out and instead of all three Tbsp of fibre, add just one (1) more Tbsp of cornstarch, optionally, to make up for the difference in thickening. It is also possible to add these same fibre ingredients to the brownie batter; just mix them with the other dry ingredients when sifting.
Makes 64 square inches of brownies roughly 1.5” thick, or 96 cubic inches of brownies.
Equipment:
• two large mixing bowls
• sifter or tamis
• one 8” square nonstick baking pan, buttered and dusted with cocoa
• hand or stand mixer (optional)
• cooling rack
• medium saucepan
• cream-whipping rig (e.g. immersion blender, gas canister)
Ingredients:
1 cup brown sugar + up to 1 cup white sugar, to taste
4 ea eggs
8 oz butter 2 sticks or a half-pound; melted; room-temp; extra for pan
1 1/4 cup cocoa Dutch processed; extra for pan
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup AP flour
1/2 tsp salt
Cherry sauce:
1 jar sour cherries 12-16 oz; liquid reserved
1/4 cup kirsch or your favorite brandy, or rum (less and less authentic)
1/4 cup sugar
3 Tbsp corn starch or tapioca or potato starch
1 Tbsp inulin powdered soluble dietary fiber
2 Tbsp acacia gum powdered soluble dietary fiber
Whipped cream:
1 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp white sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
Procedure:
1. Preheat the oven to 300F.
2. Strain the liquid from the cherries and put it in the saucepan over moderate heat to reduce. Reduce it to 1/2 cup in volume while continuing with the brownies.
3. Soak the cherries in the kirsch or brandy.
4. Butter the brownie pan and dust the interior thoroughly with cocoa (or flour, though it will show).
5. In a mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients of the brownies (apart from the sugar).
6. Sift all dry ingredients from one bowl into the other bowl, and then back into the first bowl to ensure that they are very well mixed, and that all the cocoa has been smoothed out, since it tends to clump.
7. In the empty mixing bowl, or a stand mixer, beat the sugar, eggs and vanilla to the ribbon.
8. Add the dry ingredients and stir once or twice; the surface will still show a lot of dry material.
9. Pour in the butter and continue to mix carefully, just to the point when the surface starts to appear wet; there will still be clumps of dry ingredients but this is alright.
10.With an eye toward breaking up those clumps on their way, pour the batter from the bowl into the prepared baking pan, working from one side to another, in order to minimize the amount of adjustment after the batter is poured.
11.Spin or tap the pan to distribute the batter evenly. Avoid the temptation to use a spatula or other tool to re-arrange the batter in the pan.
12.Bake in the center of the 300F oven for about 45 minutes.
13.Test the brownies using the toothpick method – crumbs are okay, but the toothpick should not have smears of wet batter on it.
14.Once the cherry canning liquid has reduced to 1/2 cup in volume, use a little bit to make a slurry with the cornstarch and fibre. If need be, use some of the booze that the cherries are soaking in.
15.Add the starch mix to the cherry juice, and let the mix boil to thicken the starch.
16.Remove the thickened juice from the heat and stir in the cherries and the rest of their booze.
17.Once the brownies have cooled completely, cut them into the desired size.
18.Serve each brownie with enough cherry sauce to cover the entire brownie, a few cherries, and some whipped cream on top.
19.The brownies and cherry sauce keep well for a few days. Refrigerate the sauce, and keep the brownies in a sealed contained in a cool, dark, dry place.
Music: bensound.com/royalty-free-music
The black forest cake is a delicious formal cake with layers of chocolate cake, cherry jam, brandy, iced and filled with whipped cream traditionally, though some may use vanilla or white chocolate mousse as a filling. One might even find this cake made with a buttercream frosting. However, rather than make a cake, we provide here a recipe for making brownies in the style of black forest cake, by saucing them with a boozy cherry compote and topping them with whipped cream.
The basis of the recipe is a lovely, rich cocoa brownie which is not overly sweet. This allows it to convey a profound dark chocolate flavor, sweetened by the cherry sauce and the whipped cream. To increase sweetness, add up to one additional cup of white sugar to the brownie batter, or add chocolate chips or other sweet garnish to the batter instead.
If a nonmetal pan is used, the cooking time will generally require adjustment upwards. Metal conducts heat more readily, and so the brownies will cook faster in metal. Since this recipe has a long cooking time to begin with, one might expect poor results if a ceramic or glass pan is used. Also, to reduce the glycemic impact of the dessert, we add some soluble and quite undetectable dietary fibre to the cherry sauce. These are somewhat specialized ingredients, and if you’d rather not use them, just leave them out and instead of all three Tbsp of fibre, add just one (1) more Tbsp of cornstarch, optionally, to make up for the difference in thickening. It is also possible to add these same fibre ingredients to the brownie batter; just mix them with the other dry ingredients when sifting.
Makes 64 square inches of brownies roughly 1.5” thick, or 96 cubic inches of brownies.
Equipment:
• two large mixing bowls
• sifter or tamis
• one 8” square nonstick baking pan, buttered and dusted with cocoa
• hand or stand mixer (optional)
• cooling rack
• medium saucepan
• cream-whipping rig (e.g. immersion blender, gas canister)
Ingredients:
1 cup brown sugar + up to 1 cup white sugar, to taste
4 ea eggs
8 oz butter 2 sticks or a half-pound; melted; room-temp; extra for pan
1 1/4 cup cocoa Dutch processed; extra for pan
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup AP flour
1/2 tsp salt
Cherry sauce:
1 jar sour cherries 12-16 oz; liquid reserved
1/4 cup kirsch or your favorite brandy, or rum (less and less authentic)
1/4 cup sugar
3 Tbsp corn starch or tapioca or potato starch
1 Tbsp inulin powdered soluble dietary fiber
2 Tbsp acacia gum powdered soluble dietary fiber
Whipped cream:
1 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp white sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
Procedure:
1. Preheat the oven to 300F.
2. Strain the liquid from the cherries and put it in the saucepan over moderate heat to reduce. Reduce it to 1/2 cup in volume while continuing with the brownies.
3. Soak the cherries in the kirsch or brandy.
4. Butter the brownie pan and dust the interior thoroughly with cocoa (or flour, though it will show).
5. In a mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients of the brownies (apart from the sugar).
6. Sift all dry ingredients from one bowl into the other bowl, and then back into the first bowl to ensure that they are very well mixed, and that all the cocoa has been smoothed out, since it tends to clump.
7. In the empty mixing bowl, or a stand mixer, beat the sugar, eggs and vanilla to the ribbon.
8. Add the dry ingredients and stir once or twice; the surface will still show a lot of dry material.
9. Pour in the butter and continue to mix carefully, just to the point when the surface starts to appear wet; there will still be clumps of dry ingredients but this is alright.
10.With an eye toward breaking up those clumps on their way, pour the batter from the bowl into the prepared baking pan, working from one side to another, in order to minimize the amount of adjustment after the batter is poured.
11.Spin or tap the pan to distribute the batter evenly. Avoid the temptation to use a spatula or other tool to re-arrange the batter in the pan.
12.Bake in the center of the 300F oven for about 45 minutes.
13.Test the brownies using the toothpick method – crumbs are okay, but the toothpick should not have smears of wet batter on it.
14.Once the cherry canning liquid has reduced to 1/2 cup in volume, use a little bit to make a slurry with the cornstarch and fibre. If need be, use some of the booze that the cherries are soaking in.
15.Add the starch mix to the cherry juice, and let the mix boil to thicken the starch.
16.Remove the thickened juice from the heat and stir in the cherries and the rest of their booze.
17.Once the brownies have cooled completely, cut them into the desired size.
18.Serve each brownie with enough cherry sauce to cover the entire brownie, a few cherries, and some whipped cream on top.
19.The brownies and cherry sauce keep well for a few days. Refrigerate the sauce, and keep the brownies in a sealed contained in a cool, dark, dry place.
Music: bensound.com/royalty-free-music
