An easy black forest loaf cake with a chocolate cherry sponge soaked with kirsch, freshly whipped cream, cherries and more!
Loaf cakes
Okay yeah, I am addicted to loaf cakes now. I didn’t do any really for the entirety of my blog… and then five in the last four months. I just can’t resist! I love them so much! Sorry I neglected them really.
Anyway… this is the last loaf cake of the year, so I thought I would go out with a bang! And by bang, I mean a very indulgent and utterly delicious loaf cake with all the black forest goodness.
I have always loved posting Black Forest goodies on here as you all seem to adore them too – my Black Forest Cheesecake is one of my favourites, but my Black Forest Gateau is the main inspiration for this particular bake.
Black forest
The combination of darker chocolate, fresh cream, cherries and kirsch is utterly irresistible to me these days, and having it in loaf cake form is even better. It’s so easy to slice up and serve, and you have the lovely cosiness of it being a wonderful sponge with all the goodness on top.
The bake itself is very simple – it’s a standard chocolate sponge recipe, with the cherries soaked in kirsch folded through and baked. A drizzle of kirsch on top, some freshly whipped sweetened cream with some cherry jam swirled through, some fresh cherries and some more chocolate!
Tin
For this beauty, I used the same glorious loaf tin that I have fallen in love with – and now so many of you have too. It’s a ‘2lb loaf tin‘ but as I have mentioned in other loaf cake posts, peoples tins can vary in size. So the exact measurements of this one are – 24.4 x 14.4 x 6.9 cm.
Kirsch
I personally found this one so easy to make, partly because you don’t have to wait for any butter to come to room temperature for the buttercream, and I use Opies cherries in kirsch, so they’re already soaked and utterly delicious. The booze in the bake has a delicious kick – so it’s definitely not for kids!
You can of course make this without the alcohol, but then I wonder whether it really is a black forest bake – cherry and chocolate is delicious though. You could use pudding cherries in a tin instead for the cake, and then soak the sponge in a simple sugar syrup to keep it going dry in the fridge!
Cream
I topped this one with the whipped cream as I obviously got some snarky comments from topping my black forest gateau with buttercream, even though I explained in the post it was to be able to keep it fresh for longer. People don’t like to read everything I write…
But for this one, instead of just making it regular whipped cream on its own, I thought I would swirl in some cherry jam to give the cake a whole new element. I just love how it looks – it looks aesthetically pleasing, it’s delicious, and I just adore it!
Cherries
I thought fresh cherries would look the nicest on top, with some dark chocolate curls, but you can use whatever you fancy – more cherries soaked in kirsch, or anything! Honestly, decorate it how you fancy. As long as it tastes good, it doesn’t matter too much!
If you have any questions, then leave them below in the comments – but definitely check out the cake tin I recommend and use, and make sure to pay attention to the recipe notes and details and you’ll smash it! Enjoy!
Black Forest Loaf Cake!
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Ingredients
For the Cake
- 200 g unsalted butter
- 200 g light brown/dark brown sugar
- 150 g self raising flour
- 50 g cocoa powder
- 4 medium eggs
- 200 g cherries soaked in kirsch (I used Opies)
- 100 g dark chocolate chips
For the Topping
- Kirsch
- 300 ml double cream
- 2 tbsp icing sugar
- 100 g Cherry jam
- Fresh cherries
- Dark chocolate curls
Instructions
For the Cake
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Preheat your oven to 180C/160C Fan and line your 2lb loaf tin with parchment paper!
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Beat together your butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
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Add in your flour, cocoa powder and eggs and beat again until smooth and perfect!
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Drain your cherries from the kirsch liquid (keep the liquid for later!) and fold the cherries and chocolate chips through the cake mixture.
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Pour the mixture into the tin, and bake the cake for 50-60+ minutes, or until baked through. You can test with a skewer!
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Once out of the oven, drizzle over some of the kirsch liquid – I used about 8-10 tablespoons worth!
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Leave the kirsch to soak in and cake to cool slightly in the tin for 20 minutes, before turning out to cool fully on a wire rack.
For the Topping
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Whip together your double cream and icing sugar until softly whipped. Carefully swirl through a the cherry jam lightly with a spoonful of kirsch if you wish and then spread on top of the cake!
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Add on some dark chocolate curls, and some fresh cherries and you’re done! Enjoy!
Notes
- This cake is best kept in the fridge due to the cream – the kirsch helps keep the sponge softer so without the sponge may dry out.
- I used Opies cherries in Kirsch!
- I used this beautiful loaf tin for this bake.
- The cherries in the cake and the chocolate chips are optional, but I think it enhances the bake a lot!
- And you can easily top with buttercream instead of fresh cream if you prefer!
ENJOY!
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