Black Forest Charlotte Cake

Black Forest Cake Meets Charlotte Cake! - I’m sharing how to make the simple and delicious Black Forest Charlotte cake at home.

Black Forest cake and Charlotte cake are one of the beloved classic cakes. I shared how to make the classic black forest cake last year, and this year, I wanted to try it with a unique twist.

🍒 What I love about this Black Forest Charlotte cake:

• It looks gorgeous: It's perfect as a gift or any special event.
• It's simple: Sponge, chocolate mousse, whipped cream... every component is simple to make with minimum ingredients.
• Piping the sponge batter is quite fun! You can change the thickness/shape and enjoy a different version.

💬 In the past, I shared how to make a classic black forest cake in a video tutorial on my YouTube channel.

In this post, you'll learn essential baking tips such as:

• How to avoid flat ladyfingers
• Tips for assembling a Charlotte cake beautifully
• What type of cherries to use for black forest cake
• How to make the easiest chocolate mousse

... and so much more!

Let's get started.

Jump to:

• 📌 What's In Black Forest Charlotte Cake
• 📌 How To Make Black Forest Charlotte Cake
• 📌 Best Time To Eat Black Forest Cake
• 📌 Best Cherries For Black Forest Cake
• 📌 Classic Black Forest Cake
• 📌 Frequently Asked Questions
• 📌 VIDEO: Black Forest Charlotte Cake
• 📌 Printable Recipe
• Black Forest Charlotte Cake
• 📌 Pin It!

📌 What's In Black Forest Charlotte Cake

Chocolate Biscuit Sponge

• Check the roles in the chocolate ladyfingers recipe.

Cherries & Cherry Cake Syrup

• Sour cherries in syrup
  • I recommend sour cherries, especially morello cherries, for the best result. I used this one this time.
• Cherry syrup from the jar/can
  • Set aside the syrup from the cherries to use it as cake syrup.
• Water
  • Add a little water to thin out the cherry syrup.
• Granulated sugar
• Kirschwasser
  • Kirschwasser is a brandy made with morello cherries. It's often used for desserts such as fraisier, black forest cake, etc. The flavor matches so well with some fruits, such as berries.

Chocolate Mousse

• Dark chocolate
  • I used this chocolate with 64% cacao content. Use any of your favorite dark chocolate.
• Granulated sugar
  • A bit of sugar is added to balance the sweetness.
• Heavy cream
  • Use regular whole-fat heavy cream.

Whipped Cream

• Heavy cream
  • Use regular whole-fat heavy cream.
• Granulated sugar
  • A bit of sugar is added to balance the sweetness.

Decoration

• Dark chocolate for chocolate curls
  • I used this chocolate with 64% cacao content. Use any of your favorite dark chocolate.
• Cocoa powder
• Sour cherries in syrup or fresh cherries (Optional)
• Gold leaf (Optional)

📌 How To Make Black Forest Charlotte Cake

The 12 Steps:

Chocolate Biscuit Sponge:

1. Make one batch of my chocolate ladyfingers recipe. Follow the 5 steps to bake it.
   • Pipe it: For a 1 6-inch cake, you'll need about 17 ladyfingers (a little over 3 inches long, using a 0.5-inch pastry tip.) and 2 circles that are a bit smaller than 6 inches (Check images below).
2. Cut the sponge: Cut the ladyfingers in 3-inch long. Cut the 2 circles so that the ladyfingers and the circles fit nicely in the cake ring.

Cherries & Cherry Cake Syrup:

3. Cherries: Strain cherries in syrup. Place them on a paper towel and remove excess moisture in advance.
4. Cherry cake syrup: Heat cherry syrup, water, and sugar and mix to resolve sugar. Add kirschwasser and mix.
5. Apply the syrup all over the sponge and set up the sponge in the cake ring.
   1. Apply cake syrup on the ladyfingers and arrange them along the side of the ring.
   2. Place the first layer of the sponge inside and apply cake syrup.
   3. Apply cake syrup on one of the sides of the 2nd sponge layer.

Chocolate Mousse:

6. Melt the dark chocolate. Add sugar and some of the cold heavy cream. Mix until the heavy cream is completely blended.
   • Repeat it until all the heavy cream is added.
7. Whip it until it looks fluffy and stiff.
   • Whip it on ice water or whip it after chilling it in the fridge.
8. Assembling it:
   1. Spread ¼ of the chocolate mousse, and push in half of the cherries. And spread another ¼ of the mousse.
   2. Place the 2nd chocolate sponge on top and apply the rest of the cake syrup.
   3. And repeat the process; Spread ¼ of the chocolate mousse, push in the rest of the cherries, and spread the rest of the chocolate mousse.
   4. Wrap and chill it in the fridge while working on the whipped cream and chocolate curls.

Whipped Cream:

9. Whip heavy cream and sugar until it looks fluffy.
10. Pipe it on top of the cake.

Decoration:

11. Make chocolate curls: Watch the video tutorial or check the detailed directions below to see how to make them.
12. Dust cocoa powder on top. As options, decorate it with additional cherry compote, fresh cherries, gold leaf, and a ribbon. Use anything you like!

📝 More Tips With Images

Now, let me share detailed tips on each step, which are all crucial for making Black Forest Charlotte cake!

Step 1: Make one batch of my chocolate ladyfingers recipe.

Follow the 5 steps and the essential tips in my chocolate ladyfingers recipe.

💡 Today, I used a 6-inch (15 cm) cake ring. Attach some all-purpose flour to the cake ring and place it on top of parchment paper (or a mat) on a tray so you can use the line as a guide to pipe within!

💬 I used 17 ladyfingers for the six-inch cake. I recommend piping at least a few extra in case something happens!

Also, pipe 2 circles that are a bit smaller than 6 inches, like in the image below: (They'll get slightly bigger in the oven).

Dust some powdered sugar on top. And Bake it right away!

🔥 Bake at 395 F | 200 C for 6 - 7 mins.

Touch the surface and check: It should bounce back very gently.

Step 2: Cut the sponge.

🌬️ Removing them from the parchment paper gets easier after they are cooled.

Cut the ladyfinger in 3-inch | 8-cm long:

Cut the edges of the 2 circles using the cake ring so that the ladyfingers and circles fit nicely within:

💬 Cut and level the surface if you see that the surface is not completely flat.

💬 I like to cut the 2nd layer of the sponge slightly smaller.

Step 3: Strain cherries in syrup and remove excess liquids.

Do not discard the cherry syrup; set it aside to use it as the cherry cake syrup later.

Remove the excess moisture from the cherries on a paper towel:

Step 4: Cherry cake syrup.

How to make the cherry cake syrup:

1. Heat the cherry syrup, water, and sugar in a cup. Mix until the sugar melts.
2. Add kirschwasser and mix.

Step 5: Apply the cake syrup all over the sponge. And set up the sponge in the cake ring.

💡 Because we are not adding oil or butter to the sponge, applying a good amount of the syrup is very important to make it moist.

At the very end, check if there are no gaps between them and squeeze in one more if there is enough space.

Place the bottom layer:

💬 Push the edge to ensure that it's fit nicely.

And apply more syrup.

💬 We are not applying the syrup on the bottom side so that transferring the cake gets easier later.

You can also add the additional syrup on the side again.

💡 Make small cuts on the surface if the syrup is not soaked in the sponge.

I like to apply the syrup on one of the sides of the second sponge layer in advance since it takes some time to get soaked in.

Set them aside while we are working on the chocolate mousse.

Step 6: Mix dark chocolate, sugar, and heavy cream.

Next, let's make the chocolate mousse.

First, melt dark chocolate with a water bath:

Add sugar and a little bit of cold heavy cream. And mix right away:

💬 Melted chocolate can get hardened and leave the pieces in the finished cream when you add the cold heavy cream all at the same time. That is why we want to add it gradually to avoid that!

And again, add some heavy cream and repeat this until you add all the heavy cream.

Step 7: Whip it until it looks fluffy and stiff.

Now, it's time to whip it!

💬 I recommend whipping on the ice water. Or whip it after chilling in the fridge until it cools completely.

Step 8: Finish assembling the mousse, cherries, and sponge cake.

Add about one-quarter of the chocolate mousse and spread it evenly.

And push in half of the cherries.

Add another quarter of chocolate mousse and spread it.

Place the second layer of the sponge. And push to make sure there's no gap between them.

Apply the rest of the syrup.

💬 Apply all the syrup because it will make the sponge feel moister.

Cut the surface with a knife to let the syrup soak in faster:

And repeat the same process with the rest of the chocolate mousse and cherries:

Now, wrap and chill it in the fridge while we work on the whipped cream and chocolate curls.

Step 9: Whip heavy cream and sugar until it looks fluffy.

Add sugar to heavy cream and whip until it gets very fluffy:

Step 10: Pipe it on top of the cake.

💬 Remove excess liquids on the surface before piping the cream on top.

Step 11: Make chocolate curls.

First, melt dark chocolate.

💬 If you have a block of chocolate, there is no need to melt chocolate.

How to temper dark chocolate

To learn how to temper chocolate, check out this post about how to make chocolate truffles. I shared one of the easiest ways to temper white and dark chocolate.

Or check out the video tutorial of this recipe.

Once set, scrape off the surface with an ice cream scoop to make the curls.

💡 If it is too hard to make curls, Heat it with a microwave for a very short time and check. Be careful not to overheat it.

💬 You can also make this ahead and store it in an air-tight container. Store it in the fridge when the room is not cool.

To finish the cake, slowly take off the cake ring:

💬 If you find it's stuck to one of the sides, push the part and lift the ring.

And decorate the chocolate curls on top:

Step 12: Finish decorating.

💬 Optional: If you don't like the powdered sugar on the sponge and want to make the color darker, apply some cake syrup, extra cherry syrup, or even a tiny bit of water.

Dust some cocoa powder on top.

As options, decorate with cherry compote, fresh cherries, and gold leaf!

And that's it! it is complete.🍒

To slice the cake:

1. Warm a knife with hot water.
2. Wipe a knife.
3. Slice.
4. Wipe a knife again.
5. And repeat the same process!

I love dark chocolate, tart cherries, and fluffy whipped cream altogether!

📌 Best Time To Eat Black Forest Cake

Although I often recommend consuming cakes within that day, this cake is different;

It tastes better after a day. Enjoy it in 1 - 2 days if you have a choice.

The flavors of cherries, syrup, and alcohol spread deeper into the cake, and the complex flavors become one. And the sponge gets moister after a day.

I feel the same for a regular black forest cake!

📌 Best Cherries For Black Forest Cake

I recommend using sour cherries, especially morello cherries for black forest cake.

The type of cherries or the brand you use changes the cake experience. I highly recommend getting a good one. I used this one today.

📌 Classic Black Forest Cake

Last year, I shared how to make a classic black forest cake on my YouTube channel. And this one is a little bit different version of that.

Check it out to learn about the classic cake!

📌 Frequently Asked Questions

📌 VIDEO: Black Forest Charlotte Cake

To learn how to make Black Forest charlotte cake visually and have a deeper understanding of all, watch the video!

Don't forget to subscribe if you liked it 😉

📌 Printable Recipe

💬 If you loved this recipe, please share your feedback on this post! I always love hearing how you enjoyed it with your friends and family.

📌 Pin It!

Pin it if you love this recipe, and find so many other recipes on my Pinterest page!

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