Today, we’re talking about Black Forest Cake. Wait, what? Yep, you’re reading this right, black forest cake. One of the most amazing standard cakes invented, but so often, people use canned cherries, and if you want fresh cherries, they’re not always in season. And thawed frozen cherries, yuck. See the issue?
So, I propose a different approach: when it’s pre-summer season and you still want fruit: use frozen blueberries. They’re so little it doesn’t even matter if they’re frozen or not sometimes. For this Rich Blueberry-Chocolate Cake, I opted for a delicious blueberry compote to replace the traditional cherries. And you can even make purple frosting with the natural blueberry color – it tastes like blueberries without any other additives. Anyone else all about using natural ingredients? It can’t get much better than using the best ingredients while still enjoying all the cream and chocolate cake goodness too!
If you’ve been following my blog posts thus far, you may have noticed a trend in using blueberries…they’re literally the only berries I’ve had since it isn’t season for them and stores aren’t selling top-quality berries yet. Plus, if they’re selling any, they’re so expensive! Except strawberries. But if I don’t want to go out of my way to get strawberries, my frozen blueberries are a perfect go-to fruit!
I digress. This is an AH-MAZING cake. Period. Blueberries are rich in antioxidants. One of the best berries out there if you’re going for the health trend craze. Top that on a triply dark chocolate cake, ummm YUM! Nothing beats a good chocolate cake.
But, I do note, the first time I made this, I was hasty and tried to use a springform pan to bake the two cake layers in one go. It is indeed a known fact that springform pans (the ones where the bottoms come off) are leaky. Usually, you use them for thick-battered things like cheesecakes or quick breads. I thought I was a little smarty-pants and that my pan would magically not leak. Well, you guessed it! The second I finished pouring the batter into the pan, chocolate cake started oozing out the bottom of my pan. Guys and gals, don’t repeat what I did. Follow simple instructions (as my band teacher would say).
If you’re curious, methods to mediate the issue of not having 2 normal 8 in cake pans:
- If you have 1 circular pan, bake them in series, so bake the first, let cake and pan cool, then bake another batch
- Line a springform pan with parchment paper up the sides
- And if you have no cake pans, use a pie pan and cut the edges to be straight after baking
- Or, last resort do it texas sheet cake style, bake it on a large rectangular tray and then cut out a circle
This cake uses a fluffier chocolate mousse (egg-based), see the Strawberry Cream Layer Cake for a denser, darker mousse, if you prefer that. It also uses the same Chantilly cream as in the strawberry cake, cause it is seriously the best whip cream frosting I’ve found. So, give it a try! Hope you enjoy it!
Rich Blueberry-Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
Chocolate Mousse
- 1-1/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, cubed
- 4 large eggs, separated
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
Blueberry Compote
- 1 cup frozen organic blueberries
- 3 Tbsp powdered sugar
- 1/4 cup water
Chocolate Cake
- 3/4 cup cocoa powder, sifted
- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, sifted
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1-1/2 cup sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup soy milk (or other milk)
- 1/2 cup boiling water
Chantilly Cream
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 0.1 oz agar agar (algae used as stabilizer)
- 1/4 cup water
- 2 cups heavy cream
Instructions
- For the Chocolate Mousse, melt the chocolate over a double boiler, as in put the chocolate chips in a heat-safe bowl/pan and let it sit on top of a sauce pan with boiling water. Once the chocolate has melted, stir in the butter. Remove from heat.
- In another bowl, beat egg whites until stiff. One at a time, mix in the egg yolks into the chocolate mixture. Once combined, fold in the egg white in small batches until incorporated.
- For the Blueberry Compote, simmer all the ingredients for 15 min until sauce has thickened.
- For the Chocolate Cake, prepare 2 8-in cake pans by greasing them. Set the oven to 350ºF.
- Whisk together the dry ingredients (cocoa, flour, baking powder, salt).
- In another bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar together. Then, add the oil and milk.
- Stir the wet ingredients into the flour mixture. Whisk in the water.
- Pour the batter evenly into the two pans and bake for 35 min, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool the cakes to room temperature on a cooling rack. If you have time, chill it in the fridge as well.
- For the Chantilly Cream, prepare the stabilizer by heating the water and agar-agar in a pot over the stove. Keep mixing until the agar-agar dissolves. Use a sieve to make sure the result is smooth and no agar-agar lumps remain. Immediately, mix the solution into the sugar to prevent the agar-agar from hardening again. Beat with the heavy cream on medium-high until stiff peaks form.
- For the purple frosting, combine 3/4 cup Chantilly cream with as much of the blueberry compote liquid as desired. Chill both creams in the fridge.
- Once all components have been chilled, or stiff enough and won’t soften when spread, assembly can begin. Start with a layer of cake. Add a layer of the blueberry compote. Use the mousse to fill in the gaps from the blueberries and continue spreading the mousse until all is used. Spread half the cream and top with the second cake layer. Lastly, finish off with the remaining cream and decorate with the purple frosting.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- Mousse adapted from Julie Soucail
- Chocolate cake adapted from Broma Bakery
- For Chantilly cream, gelatin can be used instead of agar agar+sugar
Did you make this recipe?
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