Zoë's Baking Academy: Cherry-Chocolate Cake
Plus, a Cherry-Chocolate Pound Cake for Extras Subscribers!
Baking stretches back through the centuries; and in every set of hands, it changes, creating a narrative of time and place. Recipes, techniques, and flavors are handed from cook to baker across generations, creating a tapestry that evolves and is added to over time.
Black Forest Cake is one of those recipes that seems downright ancient. The name suggests that its origin story is rooted in German baking culture but the story gets a little murky and no one is quite sure who to credit for the cake. Its classic combination of chocolate cake, cherries cooked in kirschwasser (a cherry liquor), and whipped cream is forever satisfying. The tradition is to layer the flavors in a tall cake covered in chocolate shavings, which makes for a cake worthy of a special occasion. This one would be just perfect for Valentine’s Day, a birthday or any occasion.
Sometimes you want a cake that you can slice into on a Tuesday afternoon. Nothing fancy, just flavorful and fun. This Cherry-Chocolate Pound Cake will satisfy all your cravings and is simple to make. I’ve shared this “counter cake” (I left it on the counter and my husband and I cut little pieces off every time we walked by until it was all gone, which didn’t take very long) with paid subscribers below! Bake either of these delicious cakes this month as part of Zoë’s Baking Academy and enter for a chance to win a signed copy of Zoë Bakes Cakes! Details below.
Zoë’s Baking Academy Live: Cherry-Chocolate Cake
I hope you’ll tune in to my YouTube Live next weekend to bake my Cherry-Chocolate Cake recipe! I’ll share some tips + tricks and you can ask me your questions live.
Join me Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025 at 1 p.m. CT. Be sure to follow me on YouTube and turn notifications on so you can be notified of new videos + events! From your desktop you can select “notify me” on the YouTube Live button below to be notified when this YouTube Live starts!
Zoë’s Baking Academy Details
To participate in the challenge: Before February 28, bake my Cherry-Chocolate Cake or my Cherry-Chocolate Pound Cake (paid subscriber exclusive below). Don’t forget to snap a photo and/or video of your cake.
Show us your bake: Tag me (@zoebakes) in an in-feed post on Instagram or Facebook (it’s hard to track Stories and we may miss them) and use the hashtag #zoebakesacademy and/or #zoebakes. If you don’t use social media or your account is private, you can still participate! Send an email to stephani@zoebakes.com with a photo to let us know you’re in.
Extra credit (and an extra chance to win!): Rate and review the recipe at ZoëBakes.com for an additional entry into the giveaway! Paid subscribers who make the cherry-chocolate pound cake will automatically get an extra entry.
Winners: We’ll randomly draw one winner at the beginning of March. The winner will receive a signed copy of Zoë Bakes Cakes! US addresses only.
Tips & Tricks for Great Cake
You can use any chocolate cake to layer up your cake. My favorites are the Devil’s Food (linked below) and the Hot Chocolate Cake, which has a more subtle chocolate flavor and lighter texture, really allowing the cherries to shine. Either cake is wonderful!
If you’re making the Hot Chocolate Cake Layers: Make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature. If your butter is cold, use one of these tricks to warm it up, so you will get a soft, fluffy, emulsified batter.
Set the eggs (still in the shell) in a bowl of hot water to make sure they are warm enough to blend well with the other ingredients. If the eggs are chilly, they will sieve or “curdle” the eggs.
Sift the cocoa powder into the flour, so there aren’t any lumps and whisk together all of the dry ingredients before adding to the batter.
Cherry Filling: When preparing the cherry topping make sure you cook the cherry juice and cornstarch for 3 minutes until it is thick and translucent, so it doesn’t have a chalkiness to it and it will keep its lovely texture.
Whipped Cream: When making the whipped cream, whip it on medium-low speed, so you get tiny little bubbles that will last longer and not weep.
Chocolate Shavings: use a large bar of chocolate and a sharp chef’s knife to create the chocolate shavings on top of the cake. If you rub the chocolate with the palm of your hand, it will warm the chocolate slightly and you’ll get larger curls. If the chocolate is cool, it will break off in small shards. Both ways are delicious, it’s just the aesthetics you are after.
Exclusive: Cherry-Chocolate Pound Cake
Don’t skip the cream of tartar in this recipe or your cherry cake batter will go from pale cream-pink (right) to cement-gray (left), which is never a color we are going for. The acid in cream of tartar will keep the cherry juice red. If you add cherries or anything red or pink to a cake that has a lot of alkaline (baking soda) it will make everything gray, so you’ll need to up the acid. Cream of tartar is a very efficient way to get this done. If you were to use lemon juice you’d need quite a bit of it and it would change the flavor of your cake.
Enjoy!
