White Forest Cake
White Forest Cake is a new twist on the classic European cake. Layers of vanilla sponge cake are filled with sour cherries, white chocolate cream and plenty of Kirschwasser.
This cake includes all the essential components of a classic Black Forest Cake; chocolate, sponge cake, real whipped cream, cherries and cherry liquor.
So here’s the twist. We’re replacing the chocolate cake layers with vanilla cake and the dark chocolate is switched out for white chocolate. Creamy white chocolate is a perfect foil for tart cherries.
I’m lucky to have a sour cherry tree. I preserve and freeze the cherries and use them all year to make pies, cobblers and cakes.
If you don’t have access to fresh sour cherries the best substitute would be frozen or jarred sour cherries packed in their own juice. In a pinch, you could use cherry pie filling between the layers of this cake.
Scroll through the process photos to see how to make a spectacular White Forest Cake from scratch:
If you want to try another delicious twist on the original, check out this recipe for Black Forest Cake Roll glazed with chocolate ganache.
You might also be interested in these other classic European cake recipes. Sacher Torte is a delicious combination of chocolate and apricot and White Chocolate Sacher Torte is an innovative, delicious and beautiful take on the classic cake.
For a super-white cake you can make this cake using my White Cake recipe instead of the vanilla genoise sponge.
If you love this recipe as much as I do, I’d really appreciate a 5-star review.
White Forest Cake
Ingredients
Cherry Filling
- 24 oz fresh or frozen pitted sour cherries and their juice (see note)
- 4 oz Kirschwasser (½ cup)
- 1 ¼ oz corn starch (¼ cup)
- 8 oz granulated sugar (1 cup)
Assembly
- 1 recipe Vanilla Genoise (baked in two 8" pans)
- 4 oz granulated sugar (½ cup)
- 2 tablespoons kirschwasser
- 16 oz heavy cream (2 cups)
- 1 oz confectioner’s sugar (¼ cup)
- 4 oz white chocolate (melted)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- White chocolate shavings for garnish
Instructions
Prep the cherries
- Combine 24 oz fresh or frozen pitted sour cherries and their juice with 4 oz Kirschwasser, set aside for at least 3-4 hours (I like to soak the cherries overnight).
- Drain 1 cup of juice from the cherries, reserving it for later.
- In a small bowl, whisk together 1 ¼ oz corn starch with another ¼ cup of the juice. Combine the cherries and any remaining juice with 8 oz granulated sugar in a saucepan.
- Cook over medium heat until the sugar melts and the liquid begins to boil. Reduce the heat to low and stir the cornstarch slurry into the cherries. Cook until the mixture comes to a boil, thickens and goes from opaque to translucent.
- Transfer the cherries to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and cool to room temperature. Chill until you’re ready to assemble the cake. This can be done up to one day before assembling the cake.
Assembly
- Combine the reserved cup of cherry juice with 4 oz granulated sugar in a small saucepan and heat until the sugar is melted. Remove from the heat and stir in 2 tablespoons kirschwasser. Remove 12 nice looking cherries from the cherry filling and set them aside for garnishing the top of the cake. Split each cake horizontally into 2 layers so you have a total of 4 layers.
- Whip 16 oz heavy cream with 1 oz confectioner’s sugar to soft peak. Whisk a cup of the cream into the melted 4 oz white chocolate to temper. Whisk the tempered chocolate back into the cream. Add 2 teaspoons vanilla extract and whip to full peak. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip with ½ of the white chocolate cream and leave the rest of the cream in the bowl.
- Set one layer of the cake onto a cardboard cake round or a serving plate. Brush the layer with ¼ of the cherry syrup. Pipe a dam of white chocolate cream around the edge of the layer.
- Spread ⅓ of the cherry filling within the border. Spread ¼ of the white chocolate cream from the bowl over the cherries.
- Add the second and third layers of the cake in the same way. Top with the final layer and brush the remaining syrup on top. Spread the remaining cream from the bowl evenly over the top of the cake and use the rest of the cream in the bag to pipe 12 rosettes evenly spaced around the top of the cake.
- Wrap the sides of the cake in plastic wrap so it doesn’t dry out and refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours.
- To serve, place one of the reserved cherries on each rosette and then scatter white chocolate shavings over the center of the cake.
Equipment
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