Black Forest Dessert in Jars Recipe (2024)

This easy Vegan Black Forest Cherry Dessert recipe consists of fluffy chocolate cake layered with fruity cherry compote and fluffy whipped cream in a jar – just like the popular Chocolate Cherry Cake in a Jar!

The Best Chocolate Cherry Dessert in a Jar

Craving a no-fuss dessert that tastes like a slice of cake? Then this layered dessert of chocolate cake, cherries, light cream and grated chocolate is just perfect! You’ll love this heavenly Black Forest cherry dessert in a jar because it tastes just like the classic Black Forest Cake, but is much faster to make and is even Vegan!

Simple Fruity Vegan Dessert for the Whole Year!

Since this recipe doesn’t require fresh cherries, you can make this popular dessert all year long! The cherry compote can be prepared quickly and easily from a jar of cherries and starch or pudding powder and also tastes delicious as a topping for waffles, pancakes, crepes, rice pudding or oatmeal. But you can also use the compote well as a filling for cakes or pies!

Of course, you can also prepare the dessert with other fruits and berries, because it is versatile and always tastes good! For example, how about strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, mango, apples or bananas? With raspberry sauce or apple compote, the dessert also tastes very delicious! Since chocolate and cream goes well with any fruit, feel free to be creative!

Which Cake to Layer the Dessert?

There are countless options for which cake you can use as the base for your vegan chocolate cherry dessert. A classic black forest cherry dessert is prepared with a
chocolate sponge cake. However, you can also use up leftovers from another chocolate cake or chocolate banana bread and use them as cake layers.

For more variety and a different flavor, you can also make a vanilla sponge cake, nut cake, lemon cake, funfetti cake or coconut cake. Basically, you can make a delicious layered dessert out of any baked cake, so this recipe is ideal for using leftovers!

Recipe Tip: Quick No Bake Dessert

If you don’t feel like baking a cake, you can just crumble cookies or use chocolate granola (like in my lemon cheesecake dessert recipe). This way you can make the Vegan Black Forest Cherry Dessert in no time without baking!

Ingredients for the Recipe

You can easily make this vegan dessert yourself with just a few ingredients! Here are the ingredients with possible alternatives:

• Chocolate cake: or brownies, chocolate banana bread or another cake. Alternatively use cookies or granola. Other ideas are here.
• Cherries: 1 jar of morello cherries including cherry juice, or frozen or fresh pitted cherries and cherry juice from a tetrapack or bottle. Of course, you can use other fruit(s) / berries as you like. With strawberry, raspberry or apple compote the dessert also tastes very delicious!
• Cornstarch: or vanilla pudding powder.
• Sugar: or another sweetener to taste.
• Vegan quark / yogurt: e.g. Skyr style or coconut yogurt or another yogurt alternative that has a relatively thick and creamy consistency. Depending on how sweet the curd / yogurt used, you can adjust the amount of sugar to your individual taste.
• Vegan whipping cream: or another whippable cream.
• Vanilla sugar: or sugar / sweetener with a little ground vanilla or vanilla extract.
• Chocolate chips: or any chopped chocolate.

How to make Black Forest Cake Dessert

As always, I recommend watching the recipe video and checking out these step-by-step instructions first. Then you can find the full recipe with the exact quantities in the recipe card below!

Step 1: Prep cake and cherry compote

Bake any sponge cake according to instructions and let cool (or use remaining baked cake or an alternative).

For the compote, drain the cherries in a sieve, reserving the cherry juice. Drain 2-3 tablespoons of cherry juice and dissolve the cornstarch with the sugar in it. Meanwhile, bring the remaining cherry juice to a boil in a saucepan. Stir in the starch mixture and bring to the boil again. Then stir in the cherries and let cool.

Step 2: Whip up cream

In a mixing bowl, whip the vegan whipped cream and vanilla sugar with an electric hand mixer. Then add the vegan curd and mix in briefly. Pour the curd cream into a piping bag with a large opening (but you can also spoon the cream into the glasses).

Step 3: Layer the dessert

Crumble half of the cake into 3-4 dessert glasses of 240 ml each. Next, spread some cherry compote and half the amount of cream on top. Crumble the remaining cake on top followed by some compote and the remaining cream. Garnish the Black Forest cherry desserts with a few chocolate shavings and a cherry, if desired.

Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator until ready to eat. Enjoy your meal!

How long do desserts last in the fridge?

The storage time of layered desserts in the refrigerator depends on the ingredients used. Generally, you can keep layered desserts in the fridge for 2-3 days as long as they are well covered. However, it is important to consider the condition of the ingredients such as cream, fruit or yogurt, as some are more perishable than others.

If the layered dessert contains fresh fruits, they may spoil faster. In this case, I recommend consuming the dessert within 24-48 hours.

Since this black forest cherry dessert does not contain fresh fruit, it can be stored longer in the refrigerator. However, the texture of the cake may become softer the longer it sits in the refrigerator.

This Black Forest Cherry Dessert Recipe is:

• Vegan
• Dairy-free (lactose-free)
• Eggless
• Can be made with gluten-free cake
• Quick and easy
• Creamy
• Light & airy
• Fruity & Juicy
• Moist & Fluffy
• Chocolatey
• Totally delicious!
• The perfect dessert for any occasion and every day!

Recipe Video

If you try this easy vegan chocolate cherry dessert recipe, feel free to leave me a comment and a star rating! And if you take a photo of your delicious dessert and share it on Instagram or Facebook, please tag me @biancazapatka and use the hashtag #biancazapatka so I don’t miss your post! Enjoy! 🙂

IF YOU HAVE PINTEREST, YOU CAN FIND ME HERE AND PIN THE FOLLOWING PICTURE, IF YOU LIKE! 🙂