White Forest Cake
White Forest Cake - three layers of fluffy vanilla cake with kirsch cherry and whipped white chocolate frosting. This white version of the popular Black Forest Cake will delight you – a perfect celebration cake!
Servings: 8 -10
Calories: 698kcal
Equipment
- 3 6 inch cake pans
Ingredients
White Forest Cake Layers
- 2 cups (250g) flour plain / all purpose
- 1 ¼ cup (250g) caster sugar (superfine sugar)
- 1 tbsp cornstarch (cornflour) sub with flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ cup (115g) margarine or softened unsalted butter
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup (120ml) milk semi-skimmed
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- a few drops almond extract
White Chocolate Frosting
- 2 cups (480ml) cream heavy / double cream
- 1 cup (175g) white chocolate chips (see notes)
- 2 tbsp powdered sugar icing sugar
Cherry Filling
- 14 oz (400g) Cherries in Kirsch
To decorate
- Fresh cherries (optional)
- White chocolate curls or shavings
Instructions
PREP AHEAD
- Keep in mind that the sponge layers need to be completely cold before frosting and that the frosting needs to be chilled for several hours or overnight before you whisk it. The cake layers can be baked up to a day in advance and kept wrapped at room temperature until you assemble the gateau.
Make the Cake Layers
- Sift the flour, baking powder and cornstarch into a mixing bowl. Add room temperature eggs, softened butter or margarine, the milk, lemon juice and extracts.
- Beat together until the batter is smooth, scraping the bowl as needed to ensure the ingredients are mixed well.
- Divide the batter between three greased and lined cake tins and bake for 20-24 minutes or until the cakes are golden and pass the toothpick test.
- Cool in the tins for five minutes. Run the blade of a knife around the edge of the pans to loosen the cakes and carefully invert onto a wire rack to cool.
Make the White Chocolate frosting
- Put the white chocolate chips and half of the cream in a bowl. Microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring frequently, until the chocolate chips are completely melted and the mixture is smooth.
- Stir in the remaining cream and then cover the bowl and chill in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours or even overnight.
- Whisk the frosting using a stand or hand mixer with the whisk attachment. Start beating on medium speed, gradually increasing until the frosting holds peaks. Do not over-beat, it can cause the frosting to become grainy and greasy. Keep the frosting chilled until you use it.
Assemble the White Forest Cake
- Brush the cakes with cherry syrup or Kirch allowing it to soak into the sponge.
- Spoon the frosting into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip. Pipe a ring of frosting around the edge of the cake. Fill inside with the cherries and then pipe some frosting over the top and level.
- Cover with the second cake layer, repeat and top with the third. Cover the entire cake with frosting, smoothing it with a palette knife and a scraper.
- Pipe any remaining frosting on top of the cake. Add some cherries in syrup and decorate with a few fresh cherries as well. Sprinkle with white chocolate shavings.
- Serve immediately or keep chilled for up to a day.
Video
Notes
- Black cherries in Kirsch syrup is the easiest and most authentic filling for this White Forest Gateau. Unfortunately they can be quite expensive (if you really want to splash out get this gorgeous Fabri Amarena Black Wild Cherries jar) so if the price is too scary you can use cherry pie filling with a splash of Kirsch liquor.
- Kirsch (Kirschwasser) is a clear brandy made with a distillation of black cherries. If you have some it will definitely add an authentic touch to this cake (and any Black Forest cake variants, such as this Black Forest Pavlova – Layered Pavlova Cake).
- White chocolate chips – it’s super important to use good quality white chocolate such as Ghirardelli Classic White Chocolate Premium Baking Chips. The frosting will simply not work if you use inferior white chocolate or candy melts.
Essential Equipment & Tools
- Six inch cake pans and cake release spray
- Digital scales – I use a scale for all my bakes
- Measuring spoons
- Fine strainer (sieve)
- Bench Scraper and Palette knife (offset spatula) for smoothing frosting
- Cake turntable
- Cake boards – useful when covering cakes with frosting
- Cake lifter – for transferring cakes safely
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Nutrition
Calories: 698kcal | Carbohydrates: 74g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 42g | Saturated Fat: 26g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 146mg | Sodium: 152mg | Potassium: 301mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 49g | Vitamin A: 1326IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 161mg | Iron: 2mg
