Black Forest Zuccotto is a delicious dome of chocolate cake that is filled with cherries and whipped cream. While the traditional Zuccotto is a sponge cake, I wanted to make something that was our favorite taste combination, which is chocolate and cherries!

half piece of Black Forest Zuccotto showing the inside

What is Zuccotto?

Zuccotto is an Italian domed dessert cake usually made with sponge cake or ladyfingers soaked in spirits of some type, such as brandy. However, there are as many recipes and variations on the theme as there are internet sites that will post them, so here’s mine! I used my chocolate cake recipe to make this and it’s perfect.

How to Make Zuccotto

Ingredients Needed

Whipping cream
Cherry pie filling
Grated dark chocolate
Baked chocolate cake
Sugar

chocolate cake in a tray and the other ingredients in making Black Forest Zuccotto

Cut the cake in half, and press into an 8 inch bowl that you have sprayed with cooking spray and then lined with plastic wrap overhanging the edges. Notice how there is a distinct lack of plastic wrap in my pictures? That is because I did not do this step (which is mentioned in many other recipes) and my cake did have a hard time coming out. Hindsight is 20/20, of course.

So. With the plastic wrap in, press the cake in and UP the sides of the bowl as much as you can to form that top dome. This was inspired by a zuccotto recipe I saw in Company’s Coming, where she used a pre-baked cake.

The bottom half that is left.

pressed caked in a red bowl with cherries

Put in about half of the can of cherries. The rest can be saved for another dessert, or served on the side as extra with the cake.

pressed caked in a red bowl with cherries and cream added

Take the cup of cream and beat it until it’s, well, whipped cream. Add in the sugar to your taste, I prefer less sweet whipped cream since the pie filling is very sweet. Sprinkle the dark chocolate shavings onto the whipped cream.

pressed caked in a red bowl with cherries and cream added, bottom of the cake on top of the mixture

Place the bottom of the cake on, and cut away any extra until it fits. Press it down firmly, but not so firm that everything comes out one part! Then,if you had the remaining plastic wrap, simply take it off the sides of the bowl and cover it up.

Refrigerate overnight.

Invert onto a plate, and it should come out beautifully with the plastic wrap. And then, the slices come out like this! Instead of almost falling apart like mine did the first night.

Happy baking!

Love,

Karlynn