I have noticed that to a certain amount of people making a multi-layered cake is somehow overwhelming. They end up just liking a cake and moving on, never attempting to make one. Baking this low-carb black forest cake is nothing to hold your breath for. Yes, it does take a bit of time and some simple kitchen accessories (a mixer and springform pans for example), but in the end, it is really made of 9 main ingredients (plus some spices). Still, the result is just majestic. The flavors are awesome, shortly put. The chocolate-cherry combination wins most of the hearts. Go for it.
Black forest?
The cake originated in Germany where you can find Black Forest mountain range. Its name hasn't derived from there, though; but rather from a liquor distilled from cherries. This liquor is, originally, the special ingredient in the dessert which primarily consists of chocolate sponge cake, whipped cream, and cherries. You see, it is quite basic and straightforward.
Naturally, I've taken some of the recipes out there and created a low-carb, sugar-free version of Black Forest cake. Here in Europe we mostly put sour cherries inside. The sour taste combines super well with the sweetness of chocolate and cream. Using cherries, I can not call this cake keto-friendly, but to some of the ketonians, a piece could still fit inside your macros.
How to simplify the recipe
For the sake of the original cake having 3 sponge cake layers, I've made the same number of layers. But you don't necessarily have to do the same. You can keep 2 thick layers or cut 2 thick layers in half to make 4. This depends on you, but take into consideration the size of baking pans. If wider than 9", I'd see no problems in keeping 2 thick layers. 8" or less, I'd use a cake slicer to make 4 layers. Besides, the smaller the cakes, the easier it is to cut them lengthwise.
Because you need to bake the sponge cakes immediately after mixing the butter in, but the two might not fit on the middle oven rack together (again, depending on the size of the pans), you might need to bake in upper and lower rack simultaneously. If this is the case, I recommend using the fan in the oven (if possible) and lowering the baking temperature for 20°F.
And do not forget: Keeping the ingredients for the sponge cake at room temperature is important information to follow. For contrast, before mixing heavy whipping cream, it always helps to take the cream straight from the fridge and to place the mixing bowl in the freezer 15 minutes prior to mixing.
Yes, you can use whatever type of cherries you find. I buy frozen sour cherries and unfreeze them. That works work great. I would be extra careful buying canned cherries, though. They seem to contain lots of sugar.
Recipe
Majestic low-carb Black forest cake
Ingredients
Sponge cake layers
- 9 large eggs - room temperature
- 1 cup erythritol
- 1 cup almond flour
- ½ cup cocoa powder
- 4 tablespoon butter - melted, room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cream filling
- 2 packets powdered gelatin - approx. 1 tbsp.
- 3.5 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1 tablespoon cherry vodka or rum
- 2 oz powdered erythritol
Cherry filling
- 1 lb pitted sour cherries
- 3 tablespoon cherry vodka or rum
Chocolate topping
- 2 oz 90% dark chocolate
Instructions
Sponge cake layers
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). If you are going to use the fan, 320°F (160°C) should be enough. Line the bottoms of two 8" or 9" springform pans with parchment paper.
- Using a stand electric mixer, beat 9 eggs with the whisk attachment for 1 min on high speed. With the mixer on, gradually add 1 cup erythritol and continue beating on high speed a full 8 min. It will be thick and fluffy. Tip: You will need a huge mixing bowl.
- Whisk together almond flour, cocoa powder, salt, and cinnamon, and sift in thirds into the batter. Fold with a spatula between each addition. Once all flour is in, continue to fold just until no streaks of flour remain, scraping the bottom of the bowl to get any pockets of flour. We do not want to over-mix and deflate the batter.
- Gently fold in vanilla and room temp. butter, folding as you add butter in a steady stream and scraping from the bottom to make sure you don't have butter pooling at the bottom. Fold just until incorporated. Pour ⅓ and ⅔ of batter into the prepared pans (the ⅔ is going to be split in two when baked). Bake immediately for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. If the batter is not baked straight away after mixing, it might deflate.
- Let cool in pans for 10 min then run a thin spatula around edges to loosen cake. Transfer to a wire rack and remove parchment paper. When cakes are at room temp, take the thicker one and divide it in half lengthwise using a cake slicer or a long sharp knife.
Cherry filling and syrup
- Roughly chop pitted sour cherries and place in a medium bowl with 3 Tbsp. cherry vodka or rum. Let sit at room temp for at least 30 min, stirring a couple of times. Drain cherries in a sieve over a bowl. Keep the cherries and syrup. You should get about ¾ cup total syrup. If not, add some water.
Cream filling
- Dissolve, heat and melt gelatine powder according to instructions.Beat heavy cream with the whisk attachment on high speed until soft peaks form. Add powdered erythritol and 1 Tbsp. cherry vodka (or rum) and beat on high for another minute. Add dissolved gelatine (cooled to room temperature) slowly and beat for another minute or two until stiff and spreadable.
Assembling the cake
- Place a first sponge cake layer on a cake stand and brush with ⅓ of the syrup. Top with about 1 cup frosting and spread ½ of the chopped cherries on top. Repeat with remaining layers and top with the flattest layer. Fill the cracks along the sides of the cake with frosting, then frost the top and sides with remaining frosting. Leave some of the frosting in a piping bag in the fridge for the decoration frosting (optional).
Chocolate topping
- The easy way out here is to use a potato peeler and shave the chuck of chocolate. The not so easy way is to melt the chocolate, spread it on a piece of parchment paper and freeze it. When hardened, use a food scraper to create bark-like shavings.
- Cover sides and top of cake with chocolate shavings leaving a 1" perimeter on top for piping frosting (optional). Refrigerate cake for at least 4 hours or overnight before serving.
Video
Nutrition
MORE KETO CAKES RECIPES TO TRY!
If you love this low-carb keto recipe, I recommend you also try my other recipes:
Dagmar says
I made this yesterday and absolutely love it! I am from Germany and it’s the best keto recipe for my favorite Torte by far! I made do with the canned cherries after not finding Schattenmorellen cherries at Aldi’s and using vodka instead of Kirschwasser and sti tasted nearly authentic. Thank you for developing and sharing this fabulous recipe!!!!
Luka says
Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback on our majestic low-carb black forest cake recipe! We're thrilled to hear that you loved it and that it was the best keto recipe for your favorite Torte.
We're glad to hear that you were able to make some substitutions with the ingredients and still achieve a delicious and nearly authentic taste. We appreciate your support of our site and are grateful for the opportunity to share our recipes with readers from around the world.
Thanks again for your comment and for trying out our recipe. We hope that you'll continue to enjoy our recipes and find inspiration for your next baking adventure.
Happy baking!
Sara Jane Hammond says
Hello! This recipe looks amazing! I only have one springform tin, can I make one cake and cut it?
Tisa says
Hello. Yes, of course. It is just kind of not easy oftentimes (gluten-free is just not the same - can be quite crumbly). You gotta be patient and gentle.
Dawn says
Hi! Can I do without the powdered gelatin? Just wondering what it's purpose is for the filling. Thanks!
Tisa says
Yes, you can do without the gelatin but the gelatin keeps the cream and cake together, it is easier to work with and keeps longer without the cream becoming runny.
Amy Sasser says
Before Keto, when I would make a Black Forest Cake, we would add strongly brewed coffee to the batter. I don't know enough about baking chemistry to know how that would affect this batter (Should I reduce some other liquid? Which one? etc.). The original recipe I had called for 1 cup of coffee... Do you know/have a recommendation how I might incorporate some coffee to make this cake more like what we're used to with the additional depth of flavor?
To be fair, I haven't tried your recipe as-is yet, but I saw that you do answer folks, so I thought it couldn't hurt to ask.
Thank you!
Tisa says
Hi, Amy.
I love the idea. In this case, I would avoid brushing the sponge cake with cherry syrup and would use approx. ¼ cup coffee to soak each sponge cake layer. In fact, I would personally dare to use a Tbsp more than that for each layer as I love well soaked sponge cakes (think tiramisu). That's quite close to 1 cup of coffee for the whole cake.
Hope it works for you. Let us know!
Diane MacKinder says
Thank you for recipe .. made this weekend for Bday Cake and it was very good !!! Would love to share pics but no options found ...
Tisa says
Thank you, Diane!
If you wish, you can send us your pics to [email protected] and we can show them on our social media channels?
Diane MacKinder says
Thank you ... I’m baking this now..
Diane Mackinder says
Your ingredient list says 1 tsp vanilla but your instructions says add 1/2 tsp vanilla to the cake batter... do you use the other 1/2 tsp elsewhere?
Thx
Tisa says
Hi, Diane.
That was a mistake in the instructions, I'm so sorry. I used 1 tsp. of vanilla extract in the cake batter.
Bests!
Rachel says
Could u list the serving size and carbs??
Tisa says
It's on the photo above recipe instructions. If you cut the whole cake into 12 pieces, each one has almost 9 net carbs.
Chris says
I’m making the recipe now, but I never saw where the cinnamon came in. Was it somehow left out of the recipe portion? Am I missing it? Thank you!
Chris
Tisa says
Yikes, I'm sorry, Chris, it was really missing in the instructions. It was supposed to be added in with flour and cocoa powder. But if you left it out, the difference shouldn't be too radical. I hope your cake turned out good anyways!
Lisa Manni says
This is delicious! I will prepare this evening for my partner. Thank you very much
My Sweet Keto says
Hi, Lisa. Awesome! Let us know how you guys like it!
Wanda says
How many teaspoons gelatine is equivalent to 3 packets? don't have gelatine here in packets.
Yes we spell gelatine in our country with an e on the end.
Thank you for your help.
My Sweet Keto says
Hi, Wanda!
1 packet measures out roughly 1 Tbsp. So, I suggest using 3 Tbsp. of gelatine.
Thank you, I love and often prefer UK spelling but since most visitors come from the States, I choose to stick to USA English as consistently as I manage.
Happy New Year to you and Yours.
Wanda says
Thank you for your reply. I'm from Australia, we use English spelling, but have a different accent to UK people.
Happy New Year to you and yours.
Desiree says
Hi,
So if 1 packet of gelatin normally gets mixed with 1 cup of water, do we do that and then add the whipping cream, etc.?
Also, when soaking the cherries, do we still keep them in the syrup they came in or drain that and then soak the cherries?
My Sweet Keto says
Hi, Desiree.
One packet of powdered gelatine usually comes in less than 1/2 oz. (10g) and it's enough to soak it in maybe 2,5T of water for 5 minutes and heat that up. So that would be 1/2 cup of water altogether. When it is entirely dissolved, you add it to the whipped cream or some other topping.
I'm a bit puzzled by the cherries part. I hope you use fresh or frozen which means they don't come in a syrup. I wouldn't use canned, especially if sugar is added. But if there is no other way, I would drain the syrup the cherries come in and then soak them.
All the best!
Paula B says
You don't specify if the erythromycin in the cake layer portion is liquid or powder.
My Sweet Keto says
Excuse me, but I think you meant erythritol because I don’t put antibiotics in my cakes?
It’s powder or granular. You can use a sweetener of choice bit in solid form.
CHERYL LUDWA says
Rather than using erythritol, could I use stevia (Trader Joe's pure powdered) and in what amount? thanks!!!
My Sweet Keto says
Hi, Cheryl.
Using only pure powdered stevia might change the dry/wet ratio a bit because you will use less sweetener. Take that into account and maybe reduce the amount of fat for a bit. I wish I could give you more specific advice but I haven't tried using only pure stevia in this recipe, so I can't tell you exactly what to do.
This doesn't mean it is not possible to do it if you don't mind the stevia aftertaste which erythritol somewhat reduces. But you have to follow the instructions on the stevia packet - see how much stevia equals 1 tsp. of sugar for example.
For further calculations note that 3 tsp. of sugar roughly equals 1.5 tbsp. of erythritol (and 1 cup = 4 tbsp.).
You can always taste for the sweetness as you go.
Wish I had more suggestions, but this is it for now. I do intend to make more recipes that omit sugar alcohols but as of today, I haven't done it in sponge cake recipes as this might turn out to be quite tricky using stevia ... And monk fruit has been too unaffordable for now.
All the best!
Kyra says
Hi there! I noticed you do not have baking powder mentioned in your recipe, does it still rise enough without it? Also I was wondering how long you think this cake would sit in the fridge? Thanks for your time!!
My Sweet Keto says
Hi, Kyra. The baking powder is left out on purpose. Mixing the eggs on high speed for 8 minutes straight provides enough air to the batter so that the cake bakes spongey without the need to rise.
I think the cake could last for around 5 days in the fridge. I don't think I've ever kept it for longer than 4 days, though. I would try to keep it in an airtight container. After a few days, the cream starts getting bad as every whipped cream does.
All the best!
Mindy says
Hi there! Can you recommend a non-alcoholic alternative for this recipe? I would love to make it using our fresh sour cherries for the whole family. Thanks in advance!
My Sweet Keto says
Hi, Mindy. I suggest just not using any liquor. You should get enough juice from sour cherries to use instead of alcohol.