Reviewed: Mar. 25, 2012

For the amount of time I put into making this cake I was very disappointed with the results. This cake was dry, did not keep well (frosted with whipped cream like the recipe calls for) and did not have a strong flavor. If I ever make it again I will simplify the recipe by a) follow other users' suggestions and simply use pie filling instead of the more expensive canned cherries b) use a dark chocolate cake mix c) frost with either more cherry pie filling or a light chocolate frosting

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Reviewer:

Jayni201

Cooking Level: Expert

Reviewed: Jan. 15, 2012

This recipe is awesome. Love to bake, never made a black forest cake before and it definitely was in the top 2 best cakes I've ever made and this was a first try. I only made a few changes for extra flavor and color. I used 1 can dark sweet cherries and 1 can of red tart ones, added about 2 tablespoons of chocolate syrup to my whip cream and also added a couple spoons of the dark sweet cherry juice to the whip cream as well. Will definitely make over and over!

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Reviewer:

AK April

Reviewed: Dec. 28, 2011

I think I'm more of a traditionalist - preferring the whipped cream slightly sweetened, and no buttercream. I usually have a cherry filling, instead of just cherries. In my opinion, the buttercream was too sweet, and having two "icings" made the flavor inconsistent. I would rather have a more sweetened whipped cream and use that between the layers, with home made cherry filling, and the whipped cream as an icing. On the plus side, I did like the fact that the cake was brushed with cherry juice (instead of Kirsch since I don't use alcohol). This was one of my worse black forest cakes.

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Reviewer:

claudians

Reviewed: Dec. 23, 2011

This is my family's favorite cake recipe. We save it for special occasions like Christmas eve and birthdays because it is THAT GOOD. It is decadent, yet not overly sweet. The flavors of the cream, chocolate, cherries, and liquor all come together for a perfect, elegant cake. Seriously. You won't be disappointed. And it is EVEN BETTER on the second day, so I try to make this cake at least a day in advance if I can. If not, that's fine---it just means better leftovers :).

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Reviewer:

lindyhopkins

Reviewed: Nov. 25, 2011

I definitely agree with the other reviewers who wrote the majority of people who rated this recipe highly, completely modified the recipe. Therefore the recipe on it's own needs a bit of tweaking. I thought I was going to be bringing a wonderful dessert for Thanksgiving dessert, but this cake was a flop. The butter creme was very sweet and the whipped cream bland (even after adding 4 tablespoons of confectioners sugar) and didn't even one another out. My cake was also very hard to slice without all the layers falling apart, leaving an unattractive glob on plates. In addition, this is a cake where you need to bite into all flavors at once to appreciate it and with the blob on plates it was kind of hard to do so. Although the chocolate cake alone wasn't bad, I'll continue to look for other Black Forest Cake recipes. God Bless! xoxo

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Reviewer:

NinaMarie

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Reviewed: Oct. 11, 2011

I've made this recipe twice now for my husband's birthday and it has been a hit both times!

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Reviewer:

Laryssa

Reviewed: Oct. 7, 2011

I made my very first cake using this recipe. This recipe made the most delicious black forest cake! Few suggestions below: - Soak the bing cherries in the cherry juice and kirschwasser(1/2 c) overnight. - Sprinkle this soaking liquid on the cake layers. - Use some of this liquid in the filling as well. It gives a great cherry flavor. - I used almost 3 tbsp of hazelnut espresso which gave the cake a great coffee taste. - Add 2 tbsp of milk powder to the whipping cream.

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Reviewer:

FoodKrazy

Reviewed: Sep. 27, 2011

This was a triumph! I just had to leave a note here attesting to its huge success--it's hard to overstate my satisfaction. This cake was great--so delicious and moist!

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Reviewer:

arach

Reviewed: Jul. 3, 2011

Made this for my husband's birthday - best cake ever! To split layers I always use strong thread. Soak your sweet (not tart!) cherries overnight. It was an unbelievable success. Thank you!

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Reviewer:

Windsong

Reviewed: Jul. 2, 2011

Nice cake, but not sold on the texture of the filling. As per other comments, doubled the butter but did not increase the amount of confectioners' sugar. Was still _very_ sweet on its own, but didn't overpower the cake/cherries/cream. Unfortunately it was sort of gritty, likely due to the anti-clumping starches in the sugar. Everyone else liked it way more than I did. Also used dehydrated skim milk in the whipped cream as recommended, the swirls kept their shape for the week it took us to eat it. One more note, I used fresh sweet cherries and soaked them in kirsch. Unfortunately the party date was changed, so they continued soaking for several days and I was worried about them being too strong, not having much cherry taste left, etc. I ended up mixing in additional fresh ones when baking the cake - this turned out OK but the textures clashed a bit, and I would say it wasn't necessary.

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