Authentic German Black Forest Swiss Roll, Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte is a delicious light sponge cake famous in Germany.  Layers of chocolate cake, black cherries, kirsch, and fresh whipped cream in a cake roll. 

For those of you who have been following Lovefoodies for a while, you will likely have come across our popular German Black Forest Cake, often made over the Christmas or Easter holidays, or for a celebration.

Because of its popularity, I decided to try out a twist on the popular sponge cake by making a chocolate swiss roll cake, and still have all the key components of an authentic German Black Forest Cake.

We've done step-by-step photos to help you make a swiss roll, and how to roll it, so for those of you doing it for the first time, it will come out perfectly!

The measurements do need to be precise to make a perfect sponge, so in the ingredients, I've done metric and US measures in ounces. I would suggest you use a set of digital weighing scales to make sure you're precise with the quantities.

Ingredients

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to  400F/ 425F (fan) or 220C/200C(fan). Line a 20 x 30cm or 8-inch x 12-inch swiss roll tin with baking parchment. 

2. Sift the flour and cocoa powder in a bowl and set aside.

3. In a mixer, add the eggs and sugar, and using the whisk attachment, beat together until pale and fluffy and the mixture has increased in volume and is thick.

You should be able to see the bubbles and how fluffy it is. Whisk for about 5 minutes and you will see the mixture change in texture and appearance. Add the dissolved coffee granules.

4. Add the sifted flour and cocoa powder. 

5. Take a spatula and very gently fold in the flour, taking care not to break up all the air bubbles.

Fold until the flour is completely combined and the batter is all the same color.

6. Carefully transfer the mixture into the prepared baking tin, making sure the batter reaches all the corners too. 

7. Bake for approximately 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, take a piece of parchment paper, slightly larger then the pan, and lay it on the work surface. Sprinkle some sugar over it. 

8. When the cake is cooked, carefully turn it out onto the prepared parchment paper whilst still hot.  Peel off the top parchment paper and discard. 

9. If using kirsch or cherry liqueur, add this now by drizzling over the sponge.

10. Take a sharp knife and carefully score a shallow incision about 2 cm from the longest edge of the cake about halfway deep into the cake. DO NOT CUT RIGHT THROUGH. 

11. Then use the parchment underneath to roll the sponge into a spiral with the parchment running through it. Tuck the parchment gently into the scored line to start off the roll, and then carry on rolling away from you.

Leave the rolled sponge to cool completely.

12. While the cake is cooling, make the filling by whisking the vanilla, cream and powdered sugar until the cream stiffens. 

The cream should be a slightly stiff consistency, so it stays on the whisk but looks silky. If you over whip the cream, it will turn hard and lumpy, making it difficult to spread.

13. Unroll the sponge, and spread the whipped cream all over the cake, leaving the scored edge free. 

14. Arrange the cherries all over the cake then we’re ready to roll.

15. Starting from the scored edge, closest to your body, use the parchment to roll the sponge up, gently pushing away from you.

16. Transfer the Swiss roll on to a serving plate, the easiest way is to simply take a long knife and slide it across. If you try and pick it up, it may break. 

17. Decorate the top with some sifted powdered sugar, cocoa powder, or piped whipped cream.

18. Serve straight away or keep refrigerated for up to 24 hours. 

We'd love to hear from you and what you thought of our recipe. Did you make any changes or add some other ingredients? Let us know in the comments below. Thanks for reading and happy cooking!

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