eggless black forest cake recipe with step by step pics. one of the favorite cakes liked by everyone is black forest cake. apart from having a fabulous taste and texture, this black forest cake recipe has a few more plus points. one the entire chocolate sponge cake is made from whole wheat flour (atta), has less oil and uses ingredients which are easily available. the cake recipe is also easy and can be made by beginners too.
preparing good or excellent eggless frosting cakes or gateau at home is creative as well as a satisfying effort. and trust me the process is not difficult. but yes takes time and you have some extra pans, bowls and stuff that needs to be cleaned 🙂
to make the work seem less daunting, i suggest to bake the cake a day before and do the frosting the next day. the cake can be refrigerated overnight and the frosting can be done the next day.
to make this eggless black forest cake, you need a chocolate cake or a chocolate sponge cake. you can get the cake from outside or make your own at home. i have used my basic eggless chocolate cake made from whole wheat flour as a base for this black forest cake.
there were some eggless cakes i had learnt in my home science classes and this cake was one of them. i really have good memories of preparing these frosted cakes and its due to the practice and training there, i can make them effortlessly now.
in the step by step pics, i have shared some steps to make the eggless plain chocolate cake. otherwise you can also check the entire step by step recipe on this link – eggless chocolate cake.
serve the black forest cake chilled. the cake weighed more than 500 grams, about 700 grams. so goes very well as a dessert or for celebrations like birthdays and anniversaries.
if you are looking for more eggless recipes then do check:
black forest cake
INGREDIENTS FOR black forest cake
- 1 medium sized eggless chocolate cake or sponge chocolate cake OR check the below recipe
for eggless chocolate cake
- 1 cup whole wheat flour (atta), levelled or 120 grams atta
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 pinch of salt
- ¾ cup sugar or 150 grams sugar
- 1 cup cold water, 250 ml
- ¼ cup oil or melted butter, 62.5 ml
- 1 tablespoon lime or lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla powder or vanilla essence
icing for black forest cake
- 200 ml chilled amul fresh cream or chilled heavy whipping cream
- 5 tablespoons icing sugar
- 3 tablespoons chopped red cherries
- 7 to 8 tablespoons grated chocolate or chocolate shavings, you can also add as required
- 2 to 3 teaspoons cherry syrup or 1 teaspoon sugar dissolved in 3 to 4 teaspoon water. you can use rum or wine instead of sugar syrup
- 8 to 10 whole cherries for decoration or as required
- some chocolate shavings for decoration, optional
HOW TO MAKE black forest cake
making chocolate cake batter
- first grease a round baking pan of 7.5 inches diameter x 2 inches height with oil. preheat your
- oven to 200 degrees celsius/392 degrees fahrenheit.
- seive 1 cup whole wheat flour, 3 tbsp cocoa powder, a pinch of salt, ½ tsp baking soda in a plate. use good quality cocoa powder.
- in another pan or bowl, take ¾ cup sugar.
- add 1 cup cold water and stir so that the sugar dissolves.
- now add ¼ cup oil or melted butter. i added oil. stir briskly so that everything is mixed well.
- next add 1 tbsp lime juice. stir again.
- now add ½ tsp vanilla extract or powder.
- add the sieved dry ingredients to the wet mixture. using a wired whisk, mix everything well.
- there should be no lumps in the cake batter. the batter is not thick but medium thin.
- pour the cake batter in the prepared cake pan.
- tap the sides of the cake pan so that the extra air bubbles are let out.
baking chocolate cake
- bake the cake in a preheated oven for 200 degrees celsius or 392 fahrenhiet for 35 to 40 mins. since temperatures vary from oven to oven, do keep a check.
- for baking in a convection mode of microwave oven, preheat the oven at 180 degrees celsius or 356 fahrenheit degrees for 15 minutes. then bake the cake at 180 degrees celsius or 356 degrees fahrenheit for the 30 to 35 minutes.
- for doneness check the cake with a tooth pick. the tooth pick should come out clean. once the cake becomes warm or cools down, unmold and place it on a wired rack.
- if the tooth pick is sticky, then place the cake bake in the oven and continue to bake for some more minutes. before frosting let the cake cool completely.
making icing for black forest cake
- keep the top of the cake facing you. slice the cake neatly and from the center with a large knife or serrated knife. you can also use a dental floss to slice the cake into two. with knife things can go uneven, so slice carefully. if crumbs fall, collect them and then add them on top of the cream layer.
- remove the top half and keep aside. keep the the bottom cake half facing you. just cover them and keep aside while you prepare the cream icing.
- in a stand mixer take cream and icing sugar. you can use an electric beater and take the cream and icing sugar in a bowl. i have used amul cream as that the only cream i get here. also it works very well for me. but one has to use icing sugar otherwise amul cream does not whipped well due to its low fat content. if you can get heavy whipping cream, then nothing like it. remember to chill the cream in the refrigerator at least for a day or two before you use it.
- at the highest speed, run the wire whip blade and whip till the cream become stiff. i whipped amul cream for about 8 minutes in the highest speed of the stand mixer. if you use heavy whipping cream, you won't have to whip for so long. don’t overdo the beating as the cream might turn into butter, when you get stiff peaks, just stop the mixer or beater. to check, just invert the bowl and if the cream does not fall, the cream has got stiff peaks.
making black forest cake
- sprinkle some sugar syrup on the cake evenly. to make sugar syrup, dissolve 1 tsp sugar with 3 to 4 tsp water. you can also use rum or wine instead of sugar syrup.
- now with a spatula spread about ¼ or ⅓ of the whipped cream.
- spread evenly. since this is a moist cake, the crumbs will be seen while spreading the cream. there is a method that can be used to to avoid the crumbs. but since we are making at home, this much is alright.
- then add a layer of chopped red cherries. red cherries are easily available. these are in the indian variety of candied karonda berries. they are also called as karonda murabba in hindi. i get them easily at mithai shops here.
- sprinkle grated chocolate on top.
- cover with the top halve of the cake.
- spread some cream on the top evenly. spread on the sides. if you have a cake decorating stand, then its best to use. for home purpose, i use a small flat plate covered with aluminum foil and place the cake on it before icing.
- add the remaining whipped cream in a piping bag and use any decorative nozzle. decorate the cake with the cream from the piping bag.
- place whole cherries on the cake. you can add the amount of cherries you want to make a neat looking cake.
- sprinkle some grated chocolate all over. you can also add chocolate shavings or chocolate vermicelli.
- also place the grated chocolate on the side of the cake. i also added some chocolate shavings from top.
- cover the black forest cake with a large bowl without it touching the sides and place in the fridge for the cream icing to set. keep to set for 3 to 4 hours or overnight.
- when the cream icing has set well, slice and serve the eggless black forest cake.
how to make black forest cake
1. preheat your oven to 200 degrees celsius/392 degrees fahrenheit. sieve 1 cup whole wheat flour, 3 tbsp cocoa powder, a pinch of salt, ½ tsp baking soda in a plate. use good quality cocoa powder.
2. here are the sieved dry ingredients.
3. in another pan or bowl, take ¾ cup sugar.
4. add 1 cup cold water and stir so that the sugar dissolves.
5. now add ¼ cup oil or melted butter. i added oil.
6. stir briskly so that everything is mixed well.
7. next add 1 tbsp lime juice. stir again.
8. now add ½ tsp vanilla extract or powder. here i added vanilla powder.
9. add the sieved dry ingredients to the wet mixture.
10. using a wired whisk, mix everything well. there should be no lumps in the cake batter. the batter is not thick but medium thin.
11. pour the cake batter in a greased cake pan of 7.5 inches diameter x 2 inches height. tap the sides so that the extra air bubbles are let out.
baking cake
12. bake the cake in a preheated oven for 200 degrees celsius/392 fahrenhiet for 35 to 40 mins. since temperatures vary from oven to oven, do keep a check. for baking in a convection mode of microwave oven, preheat the oven at 180 degrees celsius for 15 minutes. then bake the cake at 180 degrees celsius for 30 to 35 minutes. for doneness check the cake with a tooth pick. the tooth pick should come out clean. if the tooth pick is sticky, then place the cake bake in the oven and continue to bake for some more minutes. before frosting, let the cake cool completely.
14. here’s the inverted chocolate cake which has been cooled completely.
15. place the cake top side facing you. slice the cake neatly and from the center with a large knife or serrated knife. you can also use a dental floss to slice the cake into two. with a knife things can go uneven, so slice carefully. if crumbs fall, collect them and then add them on top of the icing layer.
16. remove the top slice of the cake and keep aside. here we have the bottom cake halve. just cover and keep aside.
making icing for black forest cake
17. in a stand mixer take 200 ml chilled cream and 5 tbsp icing sugar. you can use an electric beater and take the cream and icing sugar in a bowl. i have used amul cream as thats the only cream i get here. also it works very well for me. but one has to use icing sugar otherwise amul cream does not whip well due to its low fat content. if you can get heavy whipping cream, then nothing like it. remember to chill the cream in the refrigerator at least for a day or two before you use it.
18. at the highest speed, run the wire whip blade and whip till the cream become stiff. i whipped amul cream for about 8 minutes in the highest speed of the stand mixer. if you use heavy whipping cream, you won’t have to whip for so long. don’t overdo the beating as the cream might turn into butter, when you get stiff peaks, just stop the mixer or beater. to check, just invert the bowl and if the cream does not fall, the cream has got stiff peaks.
19. here’s the consistency of the cream.
making black forest cake
20. sprinkle some sugar syrup on the cake evenly. to make sugar syrup, dissolve 1 tsp sugar with 3 to 4 tsp water. you can also use rum or wine instead of water.
21. now with a spatula spread about ¼ or ⅓ of the whipped cream.
22. spread evenly. since this is a moist cake, the crumbs will be seen while spreading the cream. there is a method that can be used to to avoid the crumbs. but since we are making at home, this much is alright.
23. then add a layer of finely chopped red cherries. red cherries are easily available. these are in the indian variety of candied karonda berries. they are also called as karonda murabba in hindi. i get them easily at mithai shops here.
24. sprinkle grated chocolate or chocolate shavings on top all over.
25. cover with the top halve of the cake.
26. spread again ⅓ part of the cream on the top evenly. spread on the sides of the cake too. if you have a cake decorating stand, then its best to use. for home purpose, i use a small flat plate covered with aluminum foil and place the cake on it before icing. the foil covered plate along with the cake is kept on a heavy board. this way you can easily rotate the foil covered plate while spreading icing on the sides.
27. add the remaining whipped cream in a piping bag and use any decorative nozzle. decorate the black forest cake.
28. here’s one more pic. decorate as per your likeness.
29. don’t worry about design flaws as we will be adding more grated chocolate on the cakes. so imperfections can be hidden 🙂
30. place whole cherries on the cake.
31. you can add the amount of cherries you want to make a neat looking black forest cake.
32. sprinkle some grated chocolate.
33. cover the flaws with the grated chocolate. you can also add chocolate shavings or chocolate vermicelli.
34. also place the grated chocolate on the sides of the cake. i also added some chocolate shavings from top. here our eggless black forest cake is ready.
35. cover the black forest cake with a large bowl without it touching the sides and place in the fridge for the cream icing to set. keep to set for 3 to 4 hours or overnight.
36. when the cream icing has set well, slice and serve eggless black forest cake.
Hello Mam,
I am a big fan of your website and tried a couple of recipes already however not tried this one. Wanted to understand couple of things in this recipe as I have tried cake couple of times from other websites but has not turned fluffy and spongy. I wanted to try this one. Please help clear my doubts –
1. Secondly for cooling the cake, I don’t have wired cake. What’s the alternative for it?
2. I had used yogurt in my cake recipes earlier (following other website recipes). What difference does it make if we use lemon juice/white vinegar?
3. What should be the consistency of batter? Can you help understand?
4. I think we can use milk instead of water. Is that correct?
hi minakshi, thank you much. i have answered your queries below. you can try this cake and you will love it.
1. keep the cake on a clean cotton napkin or a cotton kitchen towel . the cotton napkin will allow for the steam to pass through. you can also use a flat channi (sieve) or a channi plate if you have one.
2. yogurt makes the cake to have a soft texture, but won’t help in getting an airy, fluffy and spongy texture. due to yogurt, there will be some heaviness in the cake. by heaviness, i do not mean denseness or hardness, but the cake will feel heavy. though it will have a soft, porous crumb and a rich taste.
3. the consistency is medium-thin in this recipe. it is not thin or very thin.
4. yes, of course, you can use milk instead of water. milk will make the cake rich in taste.
Dear Dasanna ji,
I baked this blackforest cake along with a few friends for a party . It was awesome ….appreciated by all. We took 3 times the measure this recipe mentions , to cater for 25 persons . On the whole it was a great experience baking it as the outcome was great . But I felt the taste of baking powder was a little overpowering….so maybe I could take a little less than three times the measure for a 2 to 2.5 kg cake .
Thank you so much …..
You have made me a baking sensation in a foreign land where buying cakes for birthdays n anniversaries is a very costly affair .
Regards
Geeta
thanks a lot geeta for this lovely detailed feedback. Did you use baking powder or baking soda? try using aluminium free baking powder and baking soda, as the metallic aroma is not felt, even if a little extra is added in the batter.
i am so glad that the black forest cake recipe was awesome and appreciated by all. thanks once more and happy baking.
Hi Dassana ji ,
It’s a pleasure learning to bake following your recipes! Specially because it’s eggless , simple and well explained by you . Thank you so much . Had a query on this Black Forest cake … need to bake a 2 to 2.5 kg cake ( for a 25 guests ) so how do we extrapolate the quantity needed from the recipe?
thank you geeta. in the recipe card increase the servings to 2 and you will get to make 1.5 kg cake. increase the servings to 3 and you will be able to make 2.1 kg cake. when you increase the servings, the ingredients also increase. but when making a 2 to 4 layered cake, it is always better to bake the cake in 2 or 3 or 4 separate pans of the same size. hope this helps.
you can use fresh pitted red or black cherries or cherries which are preserved in sugar syrup. avoid using canned maraschino cherries as they taste full of preservatives. once i had got a can and i had to discard the entire can. the taste was horrible both of the cherries and syrup. even dried cherries can be added. for dried cherries soak in water overnight or in warm water for a few hours.
Thank you
welcome.
Tried this one today, came out amazing. Thank you for making cooking seem so simple 🙏
welcome vinaya and thanks for sharing this feedback.
Mam, please advice how to hide the cake crumbs while icing the cake. No one share this particular trick. I thought atleast u will share but u also avoided very carefully telling in pt no 7 that as it’s a home made cake it doesn’t need to be that perfect. Mam, i want my cake to look professional. Please, please help.
pradipta, its not i have avoided. in one recipe i have mentioned but not in this one. when i write a post then it a detailed process and at times i do forget to mention a few points here and there. a thin layer of crumb coat works well for cake crumbs. this crumb coat can be a thin layer of buttercream icing or a glaze icing. a glaze icing is a simple icing made of powdered sugar + water or milk. apply the icing in a thin layer and then refrigerate the cake for a couple of hours. then later you can do the cream icing. if you chill the cake overnight and the do the icing, then also the crumbs will be less. hope this helps.
A heartfelt thanks for you Mam. My Mom’s birthday is on 23rd Nov. I want to surprise her with a cake that looks professional but gradually she will come to know that I made it specially for her. Sorry, if I had hurt you. Actually I was anxiously reading the recipe and finally stumbled on that particular point I was searching for quite a long time. Mam can you tell in which particular recipe you had mentioned this, so that I can read it. Thanks once again.
welcome pradipta. you did not hurt me. i can understand. regarding the cake crumbs i remember writing it for a cake recipe. i went and checked all the recipes and its not there in the recipes which i have already posted, but in a recipe which is not yet published. its eggless chocolate truffle cake and this recipe has been lying in my drafts from a very long time. i had forgotten which recipe i had written about cake crumbs but i did remember writing it. for almost daily i write a recipe and sometimes i forget the important points etc, though i do make a note of it physically or mentally.
Mam please do publish it. the pictorial elaboration helps to understand it properly. Wish you Merry Christmas and very Happy New Year.
pradipta, i will add the recipe. i did not publish it as there were many crumbs and so i had to do the crumb coat on the cake.in fact i want to share many cake recipes. i will be adding pineapple upside down cake recipe in a couple of days. happy new year to you too.
HeLlo…i m going to try this recipe today..just one confusion about wheat flour.i hv never used wheat flour for cake..pls give me suggestion…pls…
wheat flour is atta that we use for making chapatis. if you do not want to use atta, then use maida (all purpose flour).
Hi dassana,
I read in the comments section that whipping cream can be made at home using malai. Can I mix malai with some amount of milk to create like 60-70% cream? I was thinking that use of pure malai will make the cake very heavy.
ruchi, yes you can easily make whipping cream at home with malai. you can do this way. the cream will be slightly thinner. thats it. but for the cake, this cream+milk cannot be used. reason being it won’t whip. the milk in it won’t allow the cream to have stiff peaks. so for the cake you will need to use the malai for cream without adding milk. for gravies, soups, baked dishes etc you can use the cream+milk.
Oh ok. Actually I thought of doing so because Amul cream can get whipped even though the label says that it is 25% cream. I thought rest 75% they add milk. Am I missing something here? I don’t know much about baking-icing fundamentals, I was just wondering if we can it make this way at home.
On another note, there seems to be a funny thing going on with the ‘search this website’ option of your blog. For example, when I typed and searched Chocolate cake, then it directly opened the recipe of Chocolate cake in pressure cooker. I searched raita and it opened just the Dill leaves raita recipe. It’s not showing different results of recipes related to the keyword. It’s been happening since past couple of days I think. You might look into it since I use this feature a lot 🙂
ruchi the 25% cream means that there is 25% fat in the cream. milk is not added. so basically its a low fat cream. otherwise whipping creams have 50 to 60% fat.
i will check the search option. thanks for letting me know. will look into it.
ok, thanks for clarifying.
the search option is working now. thanks
welcome ruchi and thanks again for letting me know about the search option.
Is there a substitute of cream
Harshit
harshit, instead of cream, you can use unsalted white butter or cream cheese. but then the cake will be a chocolate cake with butter icing or cream cheese icing.
I am feeling very skeptical. Never done an eggless cake that does not either have milk or curd. But the amount of positivity in the comments makes me feel to close my eyes and follow. So here i go 🙂
Ruchika, give it a try. its tried and tested recipe.
Hi dassana..Chocolate gratings…whether the cooking chocolate directlycan b used to grate or any other chocolate…n one more thing not related to this…after u use ur iron kadai do u season it every time….I just saw in net….that first time while using v should keep in oven n all for hr….do u do all those…thinking to get one…so wanted my expert opinion:-)
Shubha, cooking chocolate can be grated directly. i have only seasoned once. but i use it very often. if you don’t use for a long time then may be seasoning will be required. i don’t keep in the oven. i just heat it directly on the flame with some oil applied to it. then wipe the oil and then put a second layer of oil and heat and then store it with the oil layer. before cooking just remove the layer of oil with a cloth napkin or tissue paper.
Tried this today. Omg twas wonderful… And I decorated same as yours looked awesome. But I didn’t cut into halves as it was already short lengthwise you know 😊 as the cake was made with wheat flour and water instead of milk so tasted bit different than other cakes I tried from you. Can I use milk instead? Thanks.. you are amazing.
thank you deeksha. you can use milk instead of water. welcome and happy baking.
Is lemon juice compulsory and can I bake the cake in microwave?
yes it is. if you don’t have lemon juice, then you can add vinegar or buttermilk instead. if you have convection mode in the microwave oven, then only you can bake it.
Loved your recipe and illustrations!! God bless U
thanks smrati for the kind wishes.
I have to make 1 kg
Kindly guide me as I am bit confused with the ingredients to make 1 kg
smrati, i cannot give measurements for 1 kg as the ingredients will change and i do not know if the cake when baked turns out good or not. with these measurement its a tried and tested recipe. it yields about 700 grams of cake which is lesser than 1 kg.
Hi,
Which OTG do you use coz I want to buy?
I want to learn baking but don’t have time to go to the classes, so thought of trying at home with the help of your recipes.
Luv your recipes and its so easy to understand. 🙂
thanks sneha. i use bajaj OTG, 35 litres. previously i was using philips 18 litre OTG, but they have discontinued this model. bajaj OTG is good. its almost been a year now using it.
Can I bake in Microwave oven? I have Samsung 30ltr Microwave convection oven. And is there any difference in baking in Microwave oven & OTG?
sneha, you have to use the convection mode of the microwave oven for baking. in the convection mode the baking is like baking in an OTG. in the microwave mode, the cooking happens through the microwave rays.
Hi ,
I am a big fan of u and tried many vegetable recipes …When I was going to try this cake I got a little confused to see baking soda …can I use same quantity of baking powder in place of baking soda as mentioned in this recipe
thanks pamila. in this recipe baking soda cannot be substituted with baking powder. so baking soda is required. but you can use eno (fruit salt) instead of baking soda.
HI,
I have food processor with whip knob and whipping attachment for making butter,chas n lassi. can I use that for making whipped cream?I have bought Blue Bird whiping cram powder.will that work?or shall I buy Amul whipping cream? And can I make whipped cream before hand like 2 days before and refrigerate it for further use?
priyanka, you can use this whipping attachment. i have also used it before for making butter as well as for whipping cream. i had used malai to whip. you can use amul cream. but i am not sure about the whipping cream powder. yes you can make whipped cream 2 days before and refrigerate.
Thank you so much for this reply.Iwas thinking to buy electric blender but now I will try whipping cream on food processor. And also let you know about Powder whipping cream.
– Priyanka
welcome priyanka. do let me know.
Hey thanks a lot for this perfect recipe.I made black forest first time this valentines day and it turned out awesome.Everyone just loved it.
Welcome Dr.Kamal. Glad to know this.
Hello Dassana,
Tried the cake but some queries are there. Pls help as I want to try it again.
The bottom of tin was sticky? (the pan wasn’t clean)but the cake came out perfect. Greased the cake tin too. The cake cracked also that I think b’cos i took it out from the tin immediately.
I preheated the oven as mentioned. Is it b’cos of msmts as ur recipe says 1cup =250ml and mine is of 200ml.
The cake shud be taken out immediately or shud b left for 5mins in oven and then taken out as this happens with me almost every time otherwise the texture the taste everything is perfect.
Thanks a lot ?
firstly always for any cake, let the cake cool down completely. if the cake is removed when it is hot or even warm, the cake will break or fall apart. stickiness is because the cake was still hot when it was removed. i do not think 200 ml cup should make a difference.
after the cake gets done, remove it from the oven. then keep the pan on a wired rack, so that less condensation happens at the bottom of the pan. when the cake is completely cooled at room temperature, then remove it from the pan.
Hi Amit
I am a big fan of u. I use most of ur recipes specially for baking as ur recipes call for wheat flour (which is good for health) instead of maida. Just one query can we use vinegar in place of lime/lemon juice in ur cakes and in this cake u have mentioned cold water it has to be fridge chill or u mean the normal water.
Thanks a lot for these awesome recipes ?
hema, the water has to be chilled or cold. and you can use lime or lemon juice in place of vinegar in most baking recipes.