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Black Forest Birthday Cake

I may as well just get it over with first thing and tell you that this is made from a cake mix! Some of you will not want to keep reading, but others may be somewhat relieved. This cake started out in our family as a “Black Forest Want-To-Be” with rum flavoring etc. When our kids were little they did not care for that flavor and also did not care for the cherries. This is when recipes change and so this one (with strawberries) has become a favorite birthday cake in our family. Sometimes it ends up in a trifle and sometimes the recipe gets doubled and made in a larger spring form pan or sheet. It is best to make it the day ahead and cover it with a cake cover. It keeps for days in the fridge. I am including very detailed pictures and instructions, so this is for anyone who has never even attempted decorating a cake. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
  • 1 box Devil’s Food/Chocolate cake mix
  • 1 package Jello instant chocolate fudge pudding
  • 1 can cherry pie filling or 2 pints fresh sliced strawberries
  • 1 pint (2 cups) whipping cream, sweeten to taste
  • 1 square Baker's Semi Sweet chocolate (or your preference
Mix cake mix according to pkg instructions, then pour into a greased and floured 8 1/2 inch spring form pan. ( a spring form pan makes the process easier, because the spring adjustment on the side opens and makes for easy cake removal.) Bake at 350° F, about 50 - 60 min. Test with toothpick. Let sit for 10 min. Remove from pan and cool completely.



  1. Whip cream until stiff (but not lumpy), adding ½ - 1 Tbsp sugar. Set aside in fridge.
  2. Mix pudding according to pkg. instructions. ( I use a Tupperware gravy mixer to shake it up) Set aside.
  3. Make chocolate shavings with chocolate , using a potato peeler. Set aside.
  4. Trim off rounded top on cake and let kids or hubby enjoy it. Turn cake upside down and transfer to a flat serving plate. Slice through twice, horizontally, using a sharp serrated knife, so that you have three layers. Carefully lift off top 2 layers.
  5. Cover first layer with prepared chocolate pudding. (there will be some left over) Add second layer of cake. Cover with cherries or strawberries (for strawbery filling spread a thin layer of whipped cream, top with sliced berries and fill spaces with more whipped cream.). Add third layer of cake.
  6. Spread whipping cream all along sides and top of cake. ( I add about 2 Tbsp of the pudding or instant chocolate drink mix to the whipped cream when I use strawberries.) Use the serrated knife to level off top.
  7. At this point you might need to give the left over whipped cream another whirl with the beater. Fill a decorating tube (the little plastic ones are fine too) and, using the large star tip, decorate the edge and around bottom if you want. This is where my cakes always change looks. With a small cake like this you can keep it quite simple, but you can also take a tumbler and make circular indentations, then follow the patterns with star tips.
  8. Sprinkle with chocolate shavings. Decorate with maraschino cherries or strawberries cut in half. It looks nice to leave the stems on the cherries or the strawberries.



27 comments:

  1. I should know not to read your blog while at work before lunch & forgetting to stop & get breakfast.
    For the love of God, I want that cake now!

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  2. Anneliese. I always have a good chocolate cake mix in my pantry. .there is so much you can do with them. Your Birthday cake looks pastry chef perfect.. just scrumptious looking.

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  3. Black Forest Cake..always a great dessert..your cake looks beautiful Anneliese.

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  4. Yea, I love it....We need to let all the bloggers know that we are not perfect by any means. We need to share those secrets...

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  5. that is the most gorgeous cake i've ever seen!! now you need your GF baker to make a GF version!! yum!!

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  6. oh im so glad you posted this tutorial! I saw a pic of Ben holding this cake on Kristals blogg and hoped that you would post the recipe and a picture of a slice because I just knew there was something special inside. Chocolate and strawberries, there is no better combonation! I am making my husband a birthday cake today and I used a devils food boxed mix... now that I have seen this I dont feel so bad!

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  7. Anneliese, you are amazing! What a beautiful cake! Never apologize for taking a shortcut - most of us use them - it's what you do with it that matters! And boy have you made it special.

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  8. This is some cake, so beautiful to look at and I am sure tastes amazing. Thank you for sharing your recipe.

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  9. Do you use a large or small box of chocolate pudding?

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  10. Now that looks amazing! A special birthday cake...for sure!

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  11. What a lovely picture that makes. You are an artist when it comes to cakes. I also make this cake mix cake with canned cherry pie filling and almond extract. Somebody will be delighted by this wonderful cake. Kathy

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  12. I opened the post and saw the picture...I knew before scrolling down it was your Anneliese! You are awesome! You are such an artist with your baking....I am lucky if it just tastes alright in the end! Simply wonderful...and guess what! I have ALL those ingredients in my pantry RIGHT NOW! Trouble is....I'm alone this weekend so maybe I'll bake it as a surprise for when the boys return...what a treat that will be! I'll report back on my success...but I might not include a picture! HA! Simply gorgeous and thanks for sharing it step by step!

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  13. that looks amazing! i have to make that soon!!!

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  14. Your cake is gorgeous!! I had so much fun stopping by for the first time (found your blog at A Fanciful Twist). I'm a fellow menno living in Bangkok- can't find all these wonderful ingredients here, but I'm dying to try the biscuits and foccacia and will enjoy continuing to browse your yummy recipes and beautiful photos!
    Candice Mast
    http://justcandice.wordpress.com/

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  15. To answer the "annonymous" question . . . the box I use is
    113 grams (instant chocolate fudge), made with 2 cups milk. I think it's a 4 oz. pkg. Looks like it's Canadian, so if you can't get it in the U.S. you can just use the regular instant pudding mix. Mix it and use as much as you need.
    Hope that helps.

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  16. That looks really good. I am going to have to try it using a gluten free chocolate cake mix. and cherries instead of strawberries. mmmmmm.

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  17. WOW!! This looks SO good! My family will have to try it sometime!

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  18. This looks so good , I love every thing in it . Cake mix , that's great . I love sami homemade . You made it so pretty .
    Mary

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  19. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  20. Oh, thank you for this post! It could not have come at a better time. I made a similar version of it for my mother-in-law's birthday, and everyone loved it! I posted it on my blog, but I made sure to like it back here. I love your site! Keep up the great job that you do!

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  21. Thank you for posting this. I made this for my hubby's 30th birthday yesterday and it was a HUGE hit! I think it's entered the family favorites! :)

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  22. Hi Annelise, thank you so much for posting this recipe! I used it yesterday for my husband's birthday cake and the whole party gave it rave reviews. I just posted about it on my blog here: http://whatcha-eatin.blogspot.com/2009/05/feast-of-food-and-funny-carrot.html
    -Cheers! Kristen

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  23. Could you please tell me what size and type of pan you use when you double this recipe for a larger cake? I would love to make it for my daughter's 3rd birthday this Saturday.

    Thank you!

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  24. So yummy! I love the pictures as you were constructing it. :O)

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  25. When I saw that the 'mound' was being trimmed from the cake to level it, I thought of what a cake baker told me-- she makes cakes and cakes and cakes for weddings and all sorts of event. She said............ to get the tight crumb like the expensive wedding cakes have, use something to protect your hand (she uses a non-shedding, non-linting brand of paper towel) and gently go across the top of the cake with the 'mound' and press it downward until all is level with the edges. If I hadn't seen her do it and then tasted the finished cake, I would have thought she was 'handing me a line'. Just lately, I tried her hint and it worked just great. I don't know if it would work for EVERY kind of cake-- but, only certain kinds of cake need leveling, anyhow. (???) Her hint goes right along with a show I saw on the Food Network where they were pulling the layers for wedding cakes from a huge commercial oven, immediately SLAMMING them face-down on a huge metal cart-- so, I guess those cakes were getting their 'press down' in a different way (leveling them). Interesting.

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