Dreamy White Forest Cake

This white forest cake is an elegant dessert that’s perfect for your next celebration.

Learn how to make a stunning white forest cake, complete with white sponge cake, cherry filling, and cream cheese frosting!

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You’re going to fall in love with this delightfully dreamy white forest cake!

Not only does this beautiful cake make a lasting impression on your guests for its appearance, but it’s also downright delicious.

Using white sponge cake for the layers is reminiscent of shortcakes, and they are just the right consistency for soaking up some of the juices from the cherry filling, without becoming soggy.

Cream cheese frosting is the perfect not-too-sweet finishing touch!

White Forest Cake vs. Black Forest Cake

Most people are familiar with black forest cake, as its been a popular dessert for many years.

Traditional black forest cake uses a special cherry liqueur in its filling, known as Schwarzwälder Kirsch(wasser), named after the Black Forest (Schwarzwald) mountain range found in Germany.

And while black forest cake typically uses chocolate layers, its sister variety, known as white forest cake, uses delightfully light white sponge cake instead.

The cherry filling is the same, but when paired with white cake layers, it becomes dessert perfection!

This elegant layer cake is a real stunner, and although it can be enjoyed any time of year, I think it makes a lovely holiday dessert for Valentine’s Day or Christmas!

More Delicious Cake Recipes:

• Golden Syrup Cake
• Chocolate Orange Cake
• Stroopwafel Cake
• Magic Custard Cake
• Eggnog Pound Cake

How to Make White Forest Cake

Don’t let the stunning presentation of this delicious cake intimidate you. Although it takes a few steps to make, none of them are all that difficult.

We’ll also give some tips for some shortcuts if you need them!

Ingredients You’ll Need:

• Cake flour
• Granulated sugar
• Baking powder
• Baking soda
• Salt
• Buttermilk
• Unsalted butter
• Egg whites
• Vanilla extract
• Almond extract
• Frozen cherries
• Cherry liqueur, such as Kirsch
• Cornstarch
• Cream Cheese
• Powdered sugar
• Optional: fresh cherries

How to Make It:

(Full printable recipe is available below)

Combine dry ingredients. First, you’ll whisk together cake flour (this is different from all-purpose flour, and helps with the light texture we’re going for), sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Combine wet ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, you’ll whisk together the wet ingredients of buttermilk, melted butter, egg whites, vanilla extract, and almond extract.

Prepare cake batter. Last, you’ll gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients, mixing just until combined.

If it gets too difficult to whisk at this point (batter will be somewhat thick), you can use a spatula or wooden spoon.

Bake. Divide the batter between three 8-inch round cake pans that have been sprayed with baking spray or greased with butter and dusted lightly with flour.

Bake for about 26 minutes at 350F, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake layer comes out clean. Set aside to cool completely, then remove each cake from the cake tin.

Prepare cherry filling. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine frozen cherries, cherry liqueur, sugar and cornstarch. Mix well and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring often as the mixture thickens.

Transfer to a bowl and chill in the refrigerator until you’re ready to assemble the cakes.

Prepare frosting. In a large mixing bowl, use an electric hand mixer (or a stand mixer with the paddle attachment) to beat cream cheese and vanilla extract until smooth.

Add 2 cups of the powdered sugar and beat on low speed until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Then add the rest of the powdered sugar and beat until creamy.

Assemble the cake. Place one layer of cake on your serving plate. Frost the top of the cake layer with an offset spatula, then use a piping bag and tip to pipe a border of frosting around the top edge of the cake.

Scoop half of the cherry filling onto the top of the cake, staying within the frosting border (this border helps to keep the filling from seeping out).

Repeat. Place the second layer on top of the first layer and repeat the process of frosting, making a border, and adding remaining cherry filling.

Top and finish. Last, you’ll add the third cake layer on top, then use the remaining frosting to frost the top and sides of the cake.

If desired, garnish with a few fresh cherries.

Isn’t it just so pretty??

Now it’s ready to be sliced and served! You can choose to make the slices thicker or thinner, depending on the number of people you’re serving.

Notes and Adaptations:

• If desired, you can use white cake mix for this white forest cake recipe to save some time. You will need two boxed mixes to make 3 layers, and just follow the instructions on the boxes to prepare the batter.
• Don’t have any buttermilk on hand? You can make your own! Simply add 2 tablespoons of white vinegar or lemon juice to a measuring cup, then fill up to the 2 cup mark with milk to make the 2 cups of buttermilk you’ll need. Gently stir and let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes before using.
• Although it’s not necessary, wrapping your cooled cake layers well with plastic wrap and freezing them for a few hours can make them much easier to work with later when frosting and assembling them.
• If your layers are quite domed, you may want to use a serrated knife to cut off the curved tops, so the layers will sit on top of each other evenly. I like to use wraps like this on my cake pan to prevent excessive doming.
• Piping a border of frosting around the edge of the bottom two layers helps to prevent cherries from seeping out. You can use a piping bag and tip, or you can add some frosting to a sturdy zip-top bag, snip off a corner, and squeeze frosting through the hole. Looks aren’t important for this part, since you won’t see the border once the cake layers are assembled.
• Because this is a 3-layer cake, you can get away with thinner slices, easily getting 15 servings from the cake.
• If you don’t want to use frosting, you can always use whipped cream in between layers, but just know that it won’t hold up quite as well over time. I’d recommend assembling as close to serving time as possible in that case.
• Store leftover cake in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
• If wrapped well, you can freeze the cake layers for up to three months but I would not freeze it assembled with the cherry filling. Instead, make the cherry filling fresh when ready to serve the cake.

Recommended Equipment:

• 8-inch round cake pans
• Bake-Even cake strips
• Offset spatula
• Piping bag and piping tip (the size of the piping tip isn’t super important here, so if you already have some tips, just choose a medium or large round tip).