Easy Black Forest Cupcakes Using Cake Mix

These rich and decadent Black Forest Cupcakes are SO EASY because they are made using a cake mix and cherry pie filling. The cupcakes are extra moist thanks to a couple of simple ingredient tweaks and they are topped off with fluffy whipped cream and a dusting of chocolate shavings. Delicious flavor, simple recipe!

Jump to:

• Why You Will Love This Recipe
• What is Black Forest Cake?
• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Expert Tips
• Recipe FAQs
• Recommended Recipes
• Recipe
• Reviews

Why You Will Love This Recipe

My favorite kind of recipes are ones that combine convenience with amazing flavor and superior results. This is one of those recipes!

• Incredibly Moist: There are 2 special ingredients that make the cupcakes extra moist. So good!
• Decadent: The combination of rich chocolate, sweet cherries, and soft whipped cream make these a perfect dessert when you want something simple, yet impressive!
• Easy: If you can make cake using a box of cake mix then you can make this recipe!

Other desserts that use cake mix include:

Gooey Butter Cake

Boston Cream Pie

Smith Island Cake

What is Black Forest Cake?

A traditional Black Forest Cake recipe has layers of chocolate cake with a moist crumb, stacked with whipped cream and Kirsch cherries, and topped with chocolate shavings.

In Germany, they call this cake Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte, which means "Black Forest Cherry Gateau/Torte." The cherries used to make Kirsch in Germany must come from the Schwarzwälder (Black Forest) mountain range, thus giving this cake its name.

This version scales everything down to individual portions through delicious chocolate cupcakes but keeps the tradition of all of those essential components.

Ingredients

Cake Mix: The moist chocolate cupcakes are made with Devil's Food cake mix. I use Betty Crocker, but you can use your favorite mix.

Milk: Replace the amount of water in your cake mix recipe with milk. This makes flavorful cupcakes that taste like they were made from scratch.

Butter: Instead of using oil, as directed on the cake mix box, this recipe uses melted butter. This adds a buttery flavor and also creates a denser texture.

Cherry Pie Filling: In the spirit of simplicity I use canned cherry pie filling. However, you can use fresh cherries and make homemade cherry filling if you prefer.

Kirsch: Kirsch is a German cherry brandy that gives the traditional flavor of Black Forest Cake. You can substitute brandy or cherry liquor, or leave out the Kirsch completely. The flavor will be slightly different, but still delicious!

Heavy Cream: Use heavy whipping cream with 36% milkfat to create a thick topping that will hold up well.

Instructions

There are three parts to making Black Forest Cupcakes: Making the cupcakes, the filling, and the stabilized whipped cream.

Step One: Make Cupcake Batter

Mix the cake mix, eggs, milk, and butter on low speed until combined, then increase to medium speed for 2 minutes.

Step Two: Bake the Cupcakes

Line your muffin pans with cupcake liners and scoop ¼ cup of batter into each liner, filling them ⅔ full.

Bake at 350°F for 18-23 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Step Three: Fill the Cupcakes

Place the cherry pie filling in a medium bowl. Stir in the Kirsch.

Press a cupcake corer (or an apple corer, like I am using) into the center of the cupcake. If you are using a cupcake corer then you can push it in all of the way, but if you are using an apple corer or a paring knife then go ⅔ of the way down (stopping about 1 inch from the bottom). Pull the corer up to remove the cupcake.

Use a spoon to add 2 cherries and some filling to the center of the cupcake.

You can cover the cherries with the top of the cupcake that was removed, or leave it exposed. It will be covered by the whipped topping.

Step 4: Top with Stabilized Whipped Cream

Beat the heavy cream, sugar, cream of tartar, and vanilla extract on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form.

Once you prepare the sweet whipped cream frosting, place it in a decorating bag and pipe it onto the cupcake. I use a Wilton 1M tip but you can use your favorite large tip.

Expert Tips

• For an extra-rich, chocolatey flavor add 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder to the cake mix.
• Use a 4 tablespoon scoop (¼ cup) to fill the cupcake liners without any mess.
• If you do not have a cupcake or apple corer than you can use a knife to cut out the center of the cupcake.
• It is important to stabilize your whipped cream so that it doesn't get all weepy and drip down onto your cupcakes. This recipe uses the method I find easiest, by adding cream of tartar. But if you need it to withstand hot temperatures, use this stabilized whipped cream frosting recipe instead! I have a whole post on stabilizing whipped cream if you want to read more.
• For a less traditional twist, try whipped marshmallow cream as the topping!
• Use a vegetable peeler to shave a bar of semi-sweet or dark baking chocolate to create the chocolate shavings for garnish.

Recipe FAQs

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