Black Forest Cheesecake is the ultimate decadent dessert with a rich chocolate cheesecake, chocolate cookie crust and sweet cherry topping!
Why choose between a Black Forest Cake and Chocolate Cheesecake when you can have both in one indulgent, impressive Dessert? This gorgeous and delicious Cheesecake recipe is perfect for special occasions or whenever you need a stunning dessert that is guaranteed to wow.
Table of contents
Sabrina’s Black Forest Cheesecake Recipe
If you’ve never had Black Forest Cake, it’s a dark and moist Chocolate Cake with layers of fluffy cream cheese filling and rich sour cherry mixture. With a chocolate crumb crust filled with a dark chocolate cream cheese mixture and cherry pie filling topping, this cheesecake has all the flavors of the classic German dessert in a cool, creamy cheesecake.
Ingredients
- Oreo Crust: Our classic Graham Cracker Crust gets an upgrade by swapping honey grahams with delicious chocolate sandwich cookies. The rich chocolate cookie crust acts like the chocolate cake base in the original cake. If you wanted to save some time, you could get a pre-made Oreo pie crust.
- Cheesecake Base: The cheesecake base is a sweet, rich New York Style Cheesecake made with sour cream, cream cheese, sugar, and eggs. It has a little flour added to give it some stability so it’s smooth, thick and creamy.
- Chocolate Mixture: To give the delicious cheesecake base a dark chocolate flavor, you add 1 cup melted dark chocolate chips. You could also use semi-sweet chocolate chips for a little lighter chocolate or add some dark dutch process cocoa powder for an intensely dark chocolate cheesecake.
- Kirsch: The signature ingredient that makes it a Black Forest Cake (according to German law!) is Kirsch, or kirschwasser, a clear sour cherry liquor. This cheesecake gets 2 tablespoons of Kirsch liqueur so you can taste its delicious flavor. You could also use rum or swap in vanilla if you prefer an alcohol-free Black Forest Cheesecake.
- Cherry Pie Filling: Some canned cherry pie filling makes finishing off this cheesecake super easy. You could also use our recipe for homemade cherry pie filling from our Cherry Cheesecake. The recipe is also included in the Alternative Cooking Methods section of this post.
- Whipped Cream: Just like the original German dessert, this cheesecake has swirly mounds of whipped cream topping piped around the edge. Stabilized whipped cream is made with cream cheese so it stays put for a day or two after you pipe it.
- Maraschino Cherries: The final touch is to decorate your whipped cream topping garnish with bright red maraschino cherries. Using stabilized whipped cream keeps the cherries from sinking down into the mound too.
Kitchen Tools & Equipment
- Springform Pan: A 9-inch springform pan is perfect for cheesecake because you don’t have to worry about damaging your cake trying to remove it from the pan. Instead you just release the latch and slide the cheesecake onto a cake plate.
- Electric Mixer: An electric mixer or stand mixer makes preparing this cheesecake easier. It’s especially helpful getting super fluffy stabilized whipped cream since the cream cheese can be difficult to whisk up by hand.
How to Make
- Prep for Baking
Pulse the Oreos in a food processor until they are fine crumbs, or crush them in a ziploc with a rolling pin. Preheat your oven. Coat the inside of a springform pan with baking spray.
- Pre-Bake the Oreo Crust
Combine the cookie crumbs, sugar, and melted butter in a bowl until they are like wet sand. Press the crust into the prepared pan. Bake for 5 minutes then let cool.
- Make the Cheesecake Batter
Melt the chocolate chips in a heat safe bowl in 30 second bursts, stirring between heating, until smooth. Add the cream cheese, sugar, and flour to a stand mixer and beat until completely smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, letting each mix in fully before adding the next. Finally, on low speed, mix in the chocolate then the Kirsch.
- Bake the Cheesecake
Gently fold in the sour cream then pour the batter into the baked cookie crust. Bake the cheesecake for 45-50 minutes, until firm but slightly jiggly in the center. Let cool in the oven with the door open for an hour then finish cooling in the fridge for at least 4 hours.
- Make the Whipped Cream Topping
Beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar on medium speed until stiff peaks form. Transfer to a bowl. To the stand mixer, add the heavy cream and vanilla and beat on high until soft peaks. Add the cream cheese mixture back to the stand mixer bowl and whip on medium for 1-2 minutes, until creamy.
- Decorate the Cheesecake
Transfer the whipped topping to a piping bag with a large tip and pipe 12 swirly mounds around the edge of the cheesecake. Add a maraschino cherry with the stem on top of each mound. Spoon the cherry filling into the middle of the cheesecake and gently spread it out. Serve chilled.
Nutritional Facts
Baking Cheesecake Tips & Tricks
Use a Water Bath
If you want the ultimate smooth and creamy cheesecake, you can use a water bath to bake the cheesecake. Before adding the crust, tightly wrap your entire pan in a large piece of aluminum foil so there are no cracks. Bake the crust then fill as usual. Place the filled pan in a large roasting pan and add enough water to go up 1 inch up the sides. You’ll need to bake the cheesecake for an hour and let it cool in the oven for an hour with the door propped open before chilling in the refrigerator.
How to Store
Store: After it’s decorated, the cheesecake is best in the first 2 days but it will stay fresh in the fridge for up to 4 days. Keep it in an airtight container or cover with plastic wrap, trying not to squish the frosting.
Freeze: You can freeze this cheesecake without the toppings. Once the cheesecake has completely chilled, preferably overnight, wrap it tightly in two layers of plastic wrap then store in the back of the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight then garnish and serve.
Ideas to Serve Black Forest Cheesecake
Chocolate: Add even more chocolate to this decadent chocolate cheesecake! Top with grated chocolate, shave the chocolate into decorative curls, or a drizzle with Chocolate Ganache.
Mini Cheesecakes: Bake the crust and batter in a muffin tin, lined with paper liners, for delicious mini Black Forest Cheesecakes. This recipe will make about 36 mini cheesecakes. Divide the crumb mixture between the cups, then fill half way with the cheesecake mixture. Finally spoon a little cherry pie filling into the cups. Bake for 25 minutes then top with whipped cream and a cherry!
Alternative Cooking Methods
Homemade Cherry Topping
Ingredients: 1 pound cherries (frozen and pitted), ¼ cup sugar, ⅓ cup water, 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, 1 teaspoon almond extract
- Add the cherries, sugar, water and cornstarch to a medium sauce pan and stir.
- Cook the cherry mixture over medium heat, stirring frequently, until it has thickened, about 5-7 minutes.
- Once it has thickened, removed from the heat and stir in the almond extract.
- Let cool completely before pouring over the cheesecake.
Frequent Questions
Kirsch, or kirschwasser, is a colorless brandy made from the double distillation of morello cherries, which are sour dark cherries. It is not a sweet liqueur, but it is often used in cherry desserts like Black Forest Cake.
To tell if your cheesecake is done baking, give your pan a careful jiggle, you don’t want the hot water to splash into the cheesecake batter. The outside edges should be firm and set but the center will have a slight jiggle that will set as it cools.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
Oreo Crust:
- 3 cups Oreo Cookie crumbs
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter melted
Black Forest Cheesecake:
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter , melted
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips
- 24 ounces cream cheese , softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons Kirsch
- 1/2 cup sour cream
Stabilized Whipped Cream:
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 12 maraschino cherries , with stem, dried well
- 21 ounces cherry pie filling
Instructions
Oreo Crust:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees and spray a 9″ springform pan with baking spray.
- Mix the Oreo cookie crumbs, sugar, and melted butter together then press it into the pan and up the sides in an even layer.
- Bake for 5 minutes.
Black Forest Cheesecake:
- Melt chocolate chips in microwave in 30-second increments (total of 90 seconds), stirring each time in between until completely smooth.
- In your stand mixer add the cream cheese, sugar, and flour until completely smooth (this is why we need softened cream cheese, if it is too cold you’ll have small chunks of cream cheese here).
- Add in the eggs one at a time until each one is fully mixed in, then with the mixer going on low speed pour in the melted chocolate along with the Kirsch.
- Add in the sour cream, then pour the mixture into the springform pan.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until set and firm.
- Chill completely before serving.
Stabilized Whipped Cream:
- Add the cream cheese and powdered sugar to your stand mixer at medium speed for 1 minutes until stiff peaks form. Remove from stand mixer and set aside.
- Add the heavy cream and vanilla to the stand mixer and beat on high speed until soft peaks form.
- Add in the cream cheese mixture and beat on medium speed until creamy, 1-2 minutes.
- Pipe onto the cheesecake and garnish with maraschino cherries with stems on top of each.
- Pour the cherry pie filling into the middle of the cheesecake on top and spread gently and evenly.
Nutrition
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