Double Chocolate Black Forest Cake

Weekend is my time to bake! Starting January till the end of February, my work will be taking up most of my time. But I am really grateful for the arrangements that my engagement team has set up that allows us to have Wednesday early nights and working only one weekend day. During those times, I usually take the chance to bake - either for a cake request, or just for the sake of it. :)


I made this cake on Sunday morning - at about 3AM in the morning. :p I had been working on Saturday and we had a dinner appointment during the evening. I really enjoyed the dinner but this pushed back my baking schedule. So instead of baking Saturday night, I baked Sunday morning. This may be shocking to some people, but for me, this is such a wonderful time to spend with myself.

Today is Eva's birthday and I really wanted to bake her something special. She has been one of supporter in many areas of my life. I really cherish the friendship that we had and since I wasn't able to celebrate her birthday with her, I wanted to make it special for her. This cake is a 6" double chocolate black forest cake. The "double chocolate" is because the cake is made of 2 layers of chocolate sponge cake and filled with rum-chocolate frosting. The typical black forest cake is filled and frosted with rum-cream frosting but I've grown fond of using rum-chocolate frosting in its place. :)

I also experimented with different ratios of ingredients in the cake this time and I find that this cake is more on the sweet side. I will use less sugar in the future and dark chocolate (100% cocoa) for the filling (instead of bittersweet or 65% cocoa).

For those of you who are interested to try making this cake yourself, below is the recipe - courtesy of my dearest mother:

Cake Ingredients

10 egg yolks

5 egg whites

150 g sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbs dark rum

100 g all purpose flour

35 g cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

100 g melted butter

rum simple syrup

Cake Method

In a large bowl, combine the egg yolks, egg whites, and sugar and mix on high for 10 minutes or until the mixture has triple in volume and form a thick ribbon-like texture when poured. Mix in the vanilla extract and dark rum until blended.

Using a spatula, fold in the sifted dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder) into the egg batter. Making sure to fold gently so that the mixture will not deflate. Once mixed, pour in the melted butter and mix to make sure that the butter is incorporated evenly in the batter. Note that the butter is heavy and so, it tends to sink to the bottom of the batter. Just be sure to mix it in the batter evenly.

Pour the batter on two 8" cake pans that have been sprayed with PAM and lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted to the cake comes out clean. Let cool on a cooling tray. When cakes are cooled, unmold from pan and brush the cake with rum simple syrup to moisten it.

Chocolate Filling Ingredients

2 cups heavy cream

4 tbs sugar

5 tbs cocoa powder

2 tbs dark rum

Chocolate Filling Method

In a medium metal mixing bowl, combine the cream, sugar, and cocoa powder. Cover the bowl with foil and store in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Once cooled, mix the cream using a hand mixer and a whisk attachment until the cream reached soft peaks. Add in the rum and mix until blended.

Assembly Ingredients

1 can of dark Bing cherries in light syrup

2 oz bittersweet chocolate squares

Chocolate decorations for the wall (optional)

Assembly Method

Place one cake on the cake board, flat side down, and spread some of the chocolate frosting. Arrange the cherries on the frosting and then cover with more chocolate frosting. Add on the second cake, flat side up, and brush the top of the cake with rum simple syrup. Frost the whole cake with the remaining chocolate frosting. Grate some chocolate and cover the top of the cake with it.

Decorate the cake as you please!

If you try this at home and you love it, all the credit would go to my mom! :)