German Black Forest Cake 'Cupcakes'
- Hannah Prinz
- Jun 27
- 5 min read
German Black Forest Cake (Schwarzwälder Kirsch Torte) is an iconic and traditional German desert dating back to the 1500s. If you want to make a whole cake, you can check out my recipe here: Black Forest Cake Recipe Did I mention these are gluten free. Yes 100% gluten free so that even I, a person with Celiac disease can enjoy this dessert. Do you have to make these gluten free? No, but all I did was swap out regular cake flour for a gluten free cake flour blend at a 1:1 ratio. Easy!
Every summer around mid June to August is cherry season here in Germany and to make this dessert even more special, I use fresh local cherries for my filling. This is NOT typical. Commercial Black Forest Cakes are made with canned cherries, which is fine. I'm not judging. But don't you want to make your desserts shine? Don't you want to be a bit over the top? Then take the extra hour of time it needs to de-pit your cherries and make the filling from scratch and I promise; you will wow every single guest!
Fresh Cherries from my local produce stand in Wiesbaden-Frauenstein
This recipe is actually super easy. Really! If you are intimidated by cake baking, then start off with cupcakes. You don't have the fear of stacking your cake layers and then smoothing out the frosting on the sides.
This recipe consists of a chocolate cupcake recipe, which has become a fan favorite of all the kids and even adults in my area. A fresh cherry compote filling, a light brushing of cherry schnapps drizzled on top of each cupcake, vanilla-marscapone buttercream frosting and finally topped with sprinkling of chocolate flakes and a fresh cherry on top.
Let's walk through each step.
Chocolate Cupcake:
The chocolate cupcake is super standard. Nothing crazy and takes less than 30 minutes from start to finish. Just make sure they are cool before you add the filling and frosting. Also I made them the day before and after they cooled I stored them in a tupperware box overnight (not in the refrigerator). If you do put them in the fridge make sure they are in an airtight container otherwise they will seriously dry out.
Baking top: whenever making a chocolate dessert, ALWAYS add in a tablespoon of instant espresso with the cocoa powder. The espresso will help bring out the chocolate flavor. I like to use these:
Also, a lot of people think you need to spend tons of money on expensive cocoa powder. Don't shun me, but I don't think it is necessary. It could be, because I live in Germany, that our cocoa powder is just naturally amazing. Or the fact that I have never seen Dutch cocoa powder. (Interesting, isn't it? I live about 4 hours from the Dutch border and have never seen Dutch cocoa powder in the grocery stores). Regardless, this is the cocoa powder I use and let me tell you, these cupcakes are incredibly moist and fudgy without being overly heavy.
Cocoa Powder bought at my local grocery store for 3.49€ ($4.09)
What I love about these cupcakes is that they bake perfectly EVERY TIME! I am serious. I have been using this recipes for years.
If this isn't proof that this chocolate cupcake recipe is amazing then... well... I guess you will have to try it out for yourself.
Let's talk about this cherry filling. You will need to de-pit the cherries. Is it annoying? Yes. Does it take about 30ish minutes? Yes. Can you do this step a day or two ahead of time? YES!!! I actually recommend that you do this step a day or so ahead of time, because the cherry filling takes hours to cool and you can't fill your cupcakes with warm filling that hasn't set properally.
Once all your cherries are without a pit then you need to make your compote filling.
You want a syrupy consistency
Put in a heat-proof container and leave out until room temperature. Then cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
Once cooled, you need to dig out a small hole in the middle of each cupcake. I like to use my A1 Wilton piping tip to make a perfect circle in my cupcake. I just estimate how far down I dig. Then you are going to take your cherry schnapps and brush or drizzle some of that alcohol directly on top of your cupcakes. This part is essential. It will keep your cupcakes moist and it adds great flavor to your cupcakes. Did I let me kids eat this cupcake? Of course! It is barely a half of a teaspoon of alcohol. Could they tell the cupcake had alcohol? No. It just makes the cupcake flavors not so sweet and more complex.
What do you do with this excess cupcake that you dug out? Save it in a little bowl. You will also have some extra cherry filling and frosting. Hmmm... what do you think I did with all that extra deconstructed dessert?
Actually I was nice this time, and let my youngest daughter eat it for an after school snack.
Buttercream frosting. Traditionally, a Black Forest Cake uses a fresh whipped cream frosting to cover its cakes. However you cannot use a whipped cream to decorate cupcakes. It just isn't stable enough. Instead we are going to use a standard American vanilla buttercream recipe and then at the final stages of whipping add our marscapone cheese. This will give the frosting a creamy texture with hints of actual cream. The plus side, our frosting will still be firm enough to pipe for any beginner baker.
Then you just sprinkle on some chocolate flakes and top it with a cherry. I do recommend keeping these cupcakes in an air-tight box and depending on the summer temperatures, you can refrigerate these cupcakes for about 2 days, 3 days max. Take out of the refrigerator at least 30 minutes prior to serving to ensure that the cupcake has come to room temperature.
I made almost 50 gluten free Black Forest Cake Cupcakes for a garden party. I originally wanted to make my Black Forest Cake but when I found out how many people were invited, I quickly shifted gears and turned my idea into a cupcake. Instead of baking 3-4 full sized cakes which would have taken me at least 10 hours if not more, I spent a total of 3 hours baking a decorating 50 cupcakes. They were the hit of the party!
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