Halal-conscious recipe
Black Forest gateau without kirsch
Three layers of dark chocolate sponge soaked in cherry juice instead of kirsch, filled with whipped cream and jammy cherries and topped with chocolate cream.
Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.
Why Halal checks matter here
Black Forest gateau is traditionally soaked with kirsch, a cherry spirit, and shop or bakery versions can also use gelatine to set the cream.
Black Forest gateau is chocolate sponge, whipped cream and cherries, and in its traditional form the sponge is soaked with kirsch, a clear cherry spirit. BBC Good Food's version drizzles 4 tbsp of kirsch over the layers but says you can use more juice from the cherry can instead for a non-alcoholic cake. This recipe takes that option.
Everything else is ordinary baking: dark chocolate, butter, buttermilk, eggs and cream. The checks are mostly for bought versions: bakery gateaux can set the cream with gelatine, and shop cakes can contain E471 (see cakes).
Prick the sponges while they are still warm so the juice soaks in, and let the chocolate cream cool until it spreads without running.
Halal-critical ingredients
- Kirsch Kirsch is a cherry spirit; the original drizzles 4 tbsp over the sponges. Use more juice from the cherry can, as the original itself suggests.
- Bought gateau or cream Shop and bakery gateaux can use gelatine to set the cream, and cakes can contain E471. Ask, or read the label. See Cakes.
Safe substitutes
- Kirsch → Cherry juice from the can
Allergens
gluten (flour), milk (butter, buttermilk, cream), egg
Ingredients
Chocolate sponge
- 175 g (6 oz) salted butter, plus extra for the tins
- 200 g (7 oz) dark chocolate (75 g for the sponge, the rest for the topping)
- 300 g (11 oz) plain flour
- 375 g (13 oz) golden caster sugar
- 25 g (1 oz) cocoa powder
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 2 eggs
- 200 g (7 oz) buttermilk or natural yogurt
- 100 ml (⅓ cup + 1 tbsp) boiling water
Filling and topping
- 425 g can (15 oz can) canned pitted cherries, drained, with the juice kept
- 6 tbsp cherry juice from the can, in place of the kirsch
- 100 g (4 oz) morello cherry jam
- 500 ml (2 cups + 2 tbsp) double cream
- 3 tbsp icing sugar
- 1 small punnet fresh cherries (optional)
Method
- Make the batter. Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan) and grease and line three 20 cm tins. Melt the butter with 75 g of the chocolate, stirring. Mix the flour, sugar, cocoa, bicarbonate and a pinch of salt; whisk the eggs with the buttermilk. Add the chocolate mix, egg mix and 100 ml boiling water to the dry ingredients and whisk briefly until smooth.
- Bake. Divide between the tins and bake for 25 minutes, swapping shelves after 20 if needed, until a skewer comes out clean.
- Soak with cherry juice. Prick the warm cakes with a skewer and drizzle them with 6 tbsp of the cherry juice; the original uses 2 tbsp of juice plus 4 tbsp of kirsch here. Leave to cool.
- Make the chocolate cream. Mix the drained cherries with the jam. Heat 200 ml of the cream until just below simmering, pour it over the remaining chocolate, chopped, and stir until smooth. Leave until spreadable.
- Assemble. Whip the rest of the cream with the icing sugar until soft. Spread it over two of the cakes, spoon the jammy cherries on top and stack them. Spread the chocolate cream over the third cake, set it on top and pile on fresh cherries if using.
How this recipe was researched
Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Black Forest gateau' (a chocolate, butter, buttermilk and cocoa sponge baked in three 20 cm tins for 25 minutes, drizzled with cherry juice and 4 tbsp kirsch, filled with whipped cream and canned cherries mixed with morello jam, and topped with a chocolate and cream ganache). The recipe itself offers more juice from the can instead of the kirsch; we took that option. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test; the source's prep time is 1 hour plus cooling.
Technique and ingredient sources
-
Black Forest gateau — BBC Good Food
Retrieved:
Serves 10: 175 g salted butter, 200 g dark chocolate, 300 g flour, 375 g golden caster sugar, 25 g cocoa, bicarbonate, 2 eggs, 200 g buttermilk or yogurt, 425 g can cherries, 100 g morello jam, 4 tbsp kirsch 'or more juice from the can if you want it to be non-alcoholic', 500 ml double cream, icing sugar, fresh cherries. We used the juice.
-
Cakes analysis — isithalal.food
Retrieved:
Gelatin, liqueur, fat and E471 checks for cakes.