Black Forest Texas Sheet Cake Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What can I use instead of kirsch in black forest cake? ›

Cherry brandy should be a good alternative to kirsch, particularly if you already have some.

According to one school of thought, the name is derived from the specialty liquor of the Black Forest region, known as Schwarzwälder Kirsch(wasser), which is distilled from tart cherries. This is the ingredient that gives the dessert its distinctive cherry pit flavor and alcoholic content flavor.

It's made up of a thin layer of moist chocolate cake topped with a layer of warm, poured chocolate icing and sprinkled with pecans—an easy, unfussy cake to make for a crowd!

You could soak some dried cherries, raisins or other dried fruit in alcohol to make your substitute. The alcohol will pretty much cook off (evaporate) during the baking, so you could substitute a berry or red juice such as pomegranate or cranberry. You could try mixing some cherry or other jam with a little warm water.

Kirsch is a clear spirit made from distilling sour cherries. It differs from cherry brandy which is generally brandy infused with cherries, as opposed to being distilled from them.

You can use cherry juice, raspberry syrup, or a combination of both as a substitute for liquor in a Black Forest Cake.

Black forest cake, which originated in the Black Forest region of Germany, is typically made with a light chocolate sponge cake, soaked with cherry syrup and cherry brandy (Kirsch), then layered with whipped cream and cherries.

Unlike traditional German black forest cake that's made with layers of decadent chocolate sponge, rich cherry filling and topped with whipped cream, Swiss Pastry Shop's black forest cake is made with light and airy layers of almond meringue known as dacquoise (dah-kwahz), whipped cream and plenty of chocolate shavings.

The Black Forest cake, also called Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, is an authentic German cake made up of a chocolate layer cake with cherries in the middle and whipped cream on top. They are traditionally made with fresh Morello cherries, poached in a sugar syrup and pitted.

The cherry filling and lightly sweetened whipped cream are true to traditional black forest cake recipes. However, the genoise sponge (which gets its lift from whipped eggs and sugar) is replaced with a devil's food cake. This creates a more rich chocolate cake that pairs beautifully with cream and cherries.

What ethnic group is Black Forest cake? ›

This sumptuous dessert has a very marked geographical origin. The Black Forest is a region in southwestern Germany that borders the Alsace region of France. In 1915, a pastry chef named Josef Keller is said to have made the first Black Forest cake in his tearoom in Bad Godesberg.

Why is my Texas sheet cake so dense? If your cake is turning out dense, be careful not to over mix the batter when adding the flour mixture. Instead of using an electric mixer, stir in the dry ingredients by hand in a large mixing bowl so as not to work the gluten in the flour too hard and make the cake dense.

If you have too much flour in a recipe and not enough fat, like butter or oil, your cake is going to be dry and hard. For best results, I would encourage you to use a scale when baking, but if you don't have a scale, then just make sure you're using measuring cups correctly.

The pan is too small. There's too much liquid. Opening the oven or moving pans during baking. Oven temperature is too low, or cake isn't baked long enough.

It is technically brandy, so cognac or brandy works. Please remember that kirsch isn't sweet, so no sweetened cherry-flavored liqueurs will do. Vodka or a golden rum are good substitutes, too. Cherry juice is perfect for a kid-friendly version.

Chemistry wise, You could substitute any high proof basic alcohol. Whiskey, rum, cognac, gin, vodka. In some cases lower proof would also work. Wine, vermouth.

Unlike cherry liqueurs and cherry brandies, Kirschwasser is not sweet. It is sometimes distilled from fermented cherry juice.