Black Forest Poke Cake
A decadent twist on the classic German dessert—rich dark chocolate cake soaked with tart cherry compote and finished with light mascarpone whipped frosting.
Equipment
Ingredients
Cake
all-purpose flour (room_temperature)
240 g
granulated sugar (room_temperature)
350 g
dark cocoa powder (room_temperature)
88.5 g
baking soda (room_temperature)
8 g
baking powder (room_temperature)
3 g
salt (room_temperature)
6 g
eggs (room_temperature)
3 piece
buttermilk (room_temperature)
240 g
hot water (hot)
236.6 g
vegetable oil (room_temperature)
109 g
pure vanilla extract (room_temperature)
4.2 g
Cherry Compote
canned tart cherries in water (canned, pitted)
680 g
liquid from canned cherries (room_temperature)
177 g
granulated sugar (room_temperature)
150 g
corn starch (room_temperature)
9 g
Mascarpone Frosting
heavy whipping cream (chilled)
416 g
powdered sugar (room_temperature)
125 g
vanilla extract (room_temperature)
4.2 g
mascarpone cheese (chilled)
226 g
Topping
chocolate bar (room_temperature)
50 g
Instructions
Preheat oven and prepare pan
Preheat the oven to 325°F (162°C). Spray a 9×13-inch rectangular cake pan with nonstick spray.
Mix dry ingredients
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
Mix wet ingredients
In another bowl, whisk together eggs, buttermilk, hot water, oil and vanilla extract.
Combine batter
Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix on low speed or whisk until combined. Batter will be thin. Scrape sides and mix for another 30 seconds.
Bake cake
Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick comes out with just a few moist crumbs. Cool completely in the pan.
Make cherry compote
Combine cherries, cherry liquid, sugar and cornstarch in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until cherries soften and liquid thickens slightly. The liquid should still be pourable. Cool completely.
Make mascarpone frosting
In a chilled stainless steel bowl, beat heavy cream, powdered sugar and vanilla on high speed until soft peaks form. Add mascarpone cheese and beat until medium-stiff peaks form. Keep chilled until ready to use.
Poke holes in cake
Using the handle of a wooden spoon or a straw, poke holes all over the cooled cake.
Add compote to cake
Spoon the cherry compote juice evenly over the cake, making sure to get it into the holes. Then spoon the cherries onto the cake in an even layer.
Frost the cake
Gently spread the mascarpone frosting over the cherries.
Add chocolate shavings
Using a peeler and a chocolate bar, grate chocolate shavings on top of the cake.
Chill the cake
Cover the cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 1 hour to allow the cherry juice to soak into the cake.
Original recipe
Storage
Cake tastes even better the next day after the compote has soaked in. Keep covered in the refrigerator.
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