If you can't get sour cherries you could use regular cherries, or possibly a tin of cherry pie filling, but you will need to add a little more lemon juice and a bit less sugar to account for the sweeter cherries.įresh cherries: are used to garnish this beautiful cake. The most common variety is Morello cherries. Sour cherries: also known as tart cherries. If you can't get dutch cocoa powder you can use the same amount of natural cocoa powder and add a few drops of black food color if you wish. You can read more about dutch cocoa powder in my no churn chocolate ice cream recipe. Dutch cocoa powder has a darker color which helps give this cake the characteristic almost black look. Your cake will still taste delicious but will be a bit less fiddly to make! Ingredientsĭutch cocoa powder: this recipe is one of the few times when I actually prefer to use dutch cocoa powder. You can also forgo the grated chocolate coating around the outside and simply pile the chocolate on top instead. The easiest change it to cut the cake in half instead of into three layers. Can I make an easier version of this cake? If you don't want to use the traditional chocolate sponge cake here you can use your favorite regular chocolate cake. You may need to add a little more lemon juice and a little less sugar to balance the flavors and get that sour cherry taste. You could also try using fresh cherries with some cherry juice or jam. If you can't get sour/Morello cherries you could use a tin of cherry pie filling or black cherries. You can replace the alcohol with cherry juice in the cake and omit it from the cream, or leave out altogether if you prefer. Adaptations: Can I make this black forest cake without alcohol?

German black forest cake