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    Home » Recipes » Desserts » Cakes
    5 from 1 vote

    Black Forest Trifle

    Modified: Feb 12, 2024 · Published: Feb 14, 2021 by Tanvi Srivastava 2 Comments

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    This post may contain affiliate links.

    Black forest trifle is a delightful layered dessert taking inspiration from the classic black forest cake. Layers of chocolate cake, fresh cherry pie filling, luscious chocolate pudding & vanilla whipped cream- it's not only enticing to look at, but also is really therapeutic to put together.

    I scratch make all the components for the trifle from chocolate cake to chocolate pudding,though the entire process becomes a bit time consuming. Instead, you can use cake mix, canned cherry pie filling and instant chocolate pudding mix from the store if you are in a pinch. Either way, this black forest trifle is a rich and decadent treat perfect for Valentine's day, holiday season or for any occasion!

    Black forest trifle in a glass bowl on a pink background.

    Black forest cake is a German cake that originated in "Black Forest" region. This region specializes in manufacturing of "kirsch wasser", a kind of liquor that is distilled from tart cherries. The authentic version has kirsch soaked chocolate sponge. However, since my kids were going to eat it too, I did not use kirsch in my recipe.

    Chocolate cake, sweet cherry filling (compote), whipped cream, milk chocolate pudding- I mean there was no doubt in my mind that this one would be a winner! And it was! My little one told me that I really did well on it!

    I love making trifles because they are insanely delicious and look quite appetizing on the dessert table. Plus you don't have to sweat about assembling and decorating a cake to look it pretty. When it comes to trifles, there is room to be messy and freehanded and I absolutely love that part.

    Why I love this Recipe

    • Perfect Make Ahead Dessert - Stays well in the fridge for 2-3 days.
    • Highly customizable - You could make it with a ton of help from the store like using ready to use cherry filling or cherry jam, instant chocolate pudding (jello) or cool whip. Use a chocolate sponge cake, sliced swiss roll of use boxed cake mix to save on time.
    • Variety in Flavors - You could switch up the flavors depending on what you and your family prefer. For example, use vanilla pudding instead of chocolate pudding or if you cannot find fresh cherries and don't want to use canned pie filling, use strawberries or raspberries for the compote. Lastly, I use milk chocolate throughout my recipe, however I have made this exact same dessert with dark chocolate and it turned out divine.
    Top view of trifle.

    Easy to make Dessert

    But needs planning! The black forest trifle recipe is not complicated to make, however making the components takes time especially if you decide to make them from scratch. With a little planning, you will be efficient in how it goes! Or you can spread out the work over a couple of days and assemble the trifle just a few hours before serving.

    Here's my workflow - I start by baking the chocolate cake first thing. While the cake is baking (about 30 minutes), I make the cherry filling and the chocolate pudding. The cake comes out of the oven and while its cooling and so is cherry filling, I make a whipped cream. Now, lets look at the different elements of this black forest cake trifle. You can assemble one large trifle or individual ones.

    Chocolate Cake

    I have this easy, one bowl chocolate cake recipe that I make all the time. Basically you sift all the dry ingredients along with sugar in a large mixing bowl. Then, mix in the wet, add splash of warm coffee and vanilla. Bake away.

    Dry ingredients for the chocolate cake in a glass bowl.
    Pouring wet ingredinets to the dry ingredients.
    Pouring chocolate cake batter in the cake pan.

    You may bake the cake a few days ahead and keep refrigerated. While the cake bakes for about 25-30 minutes, you can use up the time to work on the rest of the components as I am discussing below.

    Baked chocolate sponge cake in a cooling in a cake pan.

    Fresh Cherry Filling

    I use fresh cherries (though out of season in February, they were very sweet though) to make the cherry compote layer. Simply pit your cherries. I use a reusable straw since I don't own a cherry pitter. Learnt this tip from The Kitchn on how to pit cherries without a pitter).

    Fresh cherries, sugar and lemon in a black sauce pan.
    Cherry compote is thick and bubbly after cooking.

    Add cherries to a sauce pan with lemon juice, sugar, water and corn starch slurry. Let cook on medium heat for 10-12 minutes. I don't mash because I love how the whole soft cherries pop in your mouth, but you could mash if you prefer so. 

    Fresh cherry pie filling in a fluted pink bowl.

    2 Ingredient Chocolate Pudding

    Technically, 3 ingredient if you count the vanilla essence. This chocolate custard is ridiculously easy to make. You are going to need good quality chocolate and heavy cream. Chocolate wafers or chocolate chips work too!

    Warm up the heavy cream and pour over the chopped chocolate. Let melt completely, whisk until smooth and then chill. Once chilled, whip up the pudding.

    Melted chocolate and heavy cream mixture.
    Whisking chocolate and cream mixture to make a chocolate pudding.

    The scratch made creamy chocolate pudding gives this trifle utmost richness though its optional. On a completely unrelated note, the chocolate pudding is a great dessert in itself, served with some berries and whipped cream.

    Whipped chocolate pudding in a glass bowl.

    Whipped Cream

    To make, simply whip heavy cream, powdered sugar and vanilla together to slightly stiff peaks.

    Heavy whipping cream, sugar and vanilla in a glass bowl.
    Beating heavy cream with hand mixer.
    Whipped cream with stiff peaks in a glass bowl.

    Layering Black Forest Trifle

    If you ask me, there are not many rules of how to layer when it comes to trifle. No matter how you do it, every bite is going to be delicious.

    I start by layering chocolate cake cubes, top with cherry pie filling and then add the chocolate pudding followed by whipped cream. If you wish, soak the cake pieces in a tablespoon of kirsch or cherry juice (non alcoholic) for the authentic taste. Finish top of the trifle with chocolate shavings or chocolate curls and fresh cherries.

    Layer of chocolate cake in a glass serving bowl.
    Layer of cherry pie filling on chocolate cake.

    When it comes to serving, for presentation purposes, it is best to use glass bowls so that the beautiful layers can be seen when you serve. You could make individual servings (definitely a bit time consuming to make 6 servings) or a a single large traditional trifle dish.

    Adding chocolate pudding to the trifle.
    Black forest trifle topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

    Recipe Tips

    • I suggest making the trifle a few hours or a day ahead and store regrigerated. This gets dessert out of the way and also,the different flavors get a chance to meld togther.
    • Taste as you go and adjust the sweetness and intensity of flavors accordingly. If the cherries are too tart, add a bit of sugar to the filling. Adjust sugar in whipped cream as per your liking. Conversely, if filling becomes too sweet, add extra splash of lemon juice to balance the flavors.
    • Instead of chocolate cake, you could also use brownie pieces, or an even a layer of espresso-soaked ladyfingers for a twist on the classic recipe.
    Black forest trifle in a glass bowl on a small brown board.
    Black Forest Cake Trifle Featured Image.

    Black Forest Trifle

    Tanvi Srivastava
    A decadent layered dessert made with chocolate cake, fresh cherry pie filling, creamy chocolate pudding and whipped cream.
    5 from 1 vote
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 2 hours hrs
    Cook Time 30 minutes mins
    Course Dessert
    Cuisine American
    Servings 6 servings

    Ingredients
      

    One 9 inch Chocolate Cake (Or use a boxed cake mix and follow instructions)

    • 120 g (1 cup) all purpose flour
    • 150 g (¾ cup) granulated sugar
    • 40 g (5 tablespoon) unsweetened cocoa powder
    • ½ teaspoon baking powder
    • ½ teaspoon baking soda
    • ¼ teaspoon salt
    • 1 large egg room temperature
    • ½ cup whole milk room temperature
    • 5 tablespoon neutral oil
    • 5 tablespoon brewed coffee or hot water
    • 2 teaspoon pure vanilla

    Cherry Pie Filling (Skip this if you want and use store bought Cherry Pie Filling)

    • 1 lb (400 gms) fresh cherries, pitted
    • 4 tablespoon water
    • ⅓ cup granulated sugar adjust to taste
    • 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
    • 1.5 tablespoon cornstarch

    Chocolate Pudding

    • 5 oz milk chocolate bar (sweet, I use Lindt) or hocolate chips (I use milk chocolate)
    • 120 ml (½ cup) heavy cream
    • pinch sea salt

    Whipped Cream

    • 1 cup (240 ml) heavy whipping cream
    • 2-4 tablespoon powdered sugar
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla
    • Shaved chocolate, Cherries to garnish

    Instructions
     

    Bake the Chocolate Cake

    • Preheat oven to 350 F.
    • Prepare the Pan - Spray or brush a 9 inch pan with oil. Line the base of the cake with parchment paper. Flour the sides of the cake pan with cocoa powder.
    • In a large bowl, sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Mix in the granulated sugar.
    • In another bowl, nicely whisk together milk, oil, egg and vanilla.
    • Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and pour the wet ingredients. Fold in gently till just incorporated. Pour over the hot coffee and gently (dont not whisk) mox everything until you see a smooth shiny brown batter with no streaks of white flour. The batter will be runny.
    • Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or untill a skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean. The cake will start to pull away from the sides slightly.
    • Take out of the oven and let cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Run a butter knife all around and take out the cake out of the pan on to a cooling rack. Cool completely.
    • Once cooled, you can store the cake in the fridge for 2-3 days. This cake freezes easily, just wrap the cake in a cling film followed by placing it in a large ziploc and freeze upto a month.
    • For trifle, cut up the cake into small cubes using a sharp knife.

    Make the Fresh Cherry Pie filling

    • In a small bowl, mix together cornstarch and water to make a slurry.Keep near
    • In a sauce pan, add the pitted cherries,water, sugar and lemon juice. Cover and set to cook on medium stove.
    • In about 5-6 minutes,you will see that the cherries will start to soften.
    • At the end of 8 minutes you will see a lot of liquid in the pot, these are cherry juices and moisture from sugar. It will be bubbly.
    • Reduce the heat to low and add the cornstarch slurry all at once. Immediately stir around (but gently else the cherris will break). i dont like to mash the cherries, we like them soft but whole.
    • Cook for 2-4 minutes, you will see the liquid will thicken up and the filling will resemble a thickish gel. Take off the heat and let cool for 5 minutes.
    • Once completely cooked, store in an air tight jar.

    Make the Chocolate Pudding

    • Place the chocolate chips or chopped chocolate in a large bowl.
    • Warm up the heavy cream in a small pot or in the microwave. You will start to see bubbles on the sides of the pot. the heavy cream should not be boiling but should be very hot. Take off the stove and immediately pour over the chocolate.
    • Whisk gently untill all the chocolate is dissolved and it resembles a smooth chocolate syrup. Cool down to room temperature and then chill for 30-45 minutes.
    • Using a hand mixer, beat the chocolate mixtureuntill fluffy. Easy chocolate pudding is ready.

    Whipped Cream

    • Place chilled heavy cream in a large bowl. Add sugar and vanilla. Using a hand mixer whip for 5-7 minutes or untill slightly stiff peaks begin to form.

    Assemble the trifle

    • In a karge trifle bowl or in individaul serving jars, layer the cake, cherry pie filling, chocolate pudding and whipped cream. You can repeat the layers to make large servings or have a single layer of each component.
    • Chill for 3-4 hours or till ready to serve. Top with whipped cream, chocolate shavings and some cherries. Serve.

    Notes

    • I suggest making the trifle a few hours or a day ahead and store regrigerated. This gets dessert out of the way and also,the different flavors get a chance to meld togther.
    • Taste as you go and adjust the sweetness and intensity of flavors accordingly. If the cherries are too tart, add a bit of sugar to the filling. Adjust sugar in whipped cream as per your liking. Conversely, if filling becomes too sweet, add extra splash of lemon juice to balance the flavors.
    • Instead of chocolate cake, you could also use brownie pieces, or an even a layer of espresso-soaked ladyfingers for a twist on the classic recipe.
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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      5 from 1 vote (1 rating without comment)

      I'd Love to Hear from You! Cancel reply

      If you tried this recipe, please leave a star rating and share your feedback below. Your input helps me refine my recipes and guides others too. As always, thank you so much for your support!

      Thank you,
      Tanvi

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      Recipe Rating




    1. Maria

      August 31, 2023 at 11:08 am

      In the whipped cream part of the recipe, it doesn't mention when and how to add the kirsch. After initial peaks are formed or all at the beginning? Thanks

      Reply
      • Tanvi Srivastava

        August 31, 2023 at 1:49 pm

        Thanks for pointing out. Add after initial peaks are formed.

        Reply

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