Aldi Black Forest Cream Cake (Deutsche Küche) Review
Grocer sorcery.
I bought this during Aldi’s twice-yearly “German Week,” which seems appropriate, since black forest cake originated in Black Forest Germany. Like their Strawberry Cream Cake, Aldi’s Black Forest Cream Cake is a frozen dessert that features real cream and lots of fruit. In fact, there are two kinds of cherries in this cake, as well as an unexpected “apple jam.” More about that later.
The best part of this cake is the whipped cream “icing.” Cream is the first ingredient in this cake, which is amazing. The “icing” is only slightly sweet, but has a natural, wholesome butterfat taste and a satisfying mouthfeel. If you love cream, it would be hard not to relish this. There is some kind of stabilizer added to the whipped cream that keeps it from melting — probably the “bovine gelatin” in the ingredient list.
Inside the cake is a thick cherry center, made from blended Morello cherries. The dark burgundy-colored filling has a slightly tangy, natural taste, and just enough cherry texture to be interesting. It’s not syrupy or terribly sweet, but pleasantly fresh tasting. The ingredients list apple jam — and since I can’t find another location where the jam might be hidden — I’m guessing it is mixed into the cherry puree. Maybe to help it stick together?
The cherry strata is nestled between two chocolate cake layers. This isn’t a deep, dark chocolate cake, but rather a very mild Dutch-style chocolate. If you’re a chocolate fiend, you may be disappointed. The cake was my least favorite part — it tasted a little bland and dull. There’s only a moderate sweetness to the cake itself, which allows the cherries to become a more prominent player. This cake is definitely more about cherries and cream than anything else.
Like the Aldi Strawberry Cream Cake, there is an odd pie crust on the bottom of the cake. I don’t mind the crust — it adds an interesting extra layer, and it helps the cake serve more crisply. The crust is some kind of soft, flakey, lightly sweet pastry. It’s not quite the same as a graham crust, but it has a similar flavor. The Strawberry Cream Cake had a layer of apple jam separating the crust from the rest of the cake; this Black Forest Cake does not. Maybe I got a fluke.
The garnish cherries are a different type of cherry than the Morello cherries in the filling. I would describe them as closer to a maraschino cherry. They have a firmer, candied texture, and more sweetness. Fortunately, they aren’t full of artificial colors or icky fake flavors, like most jarred maraschino cherries. These cherries have more of a soft, natural red color.
Aesthetically, this is an elegant dessert. The whipped icing is applied flawlessly, albeit somewhat mechanically. There’s a pleasing contrast between the delicate chocolate flake garnish, and the snowy white cream base. Whole cherries are perched atop individually piped cream rosettes. In my opinion, the cake looks even better once sliced, because the inner layers create more exciting contrast.
Thawing Instructions for Aldi’s Black Forest Cream Cake
The instructions said to thaw the whole cake at room temperature for 3-4 hours. Based on my previous experience with thawing cakes from Deutsche Küche, I decided to thaw this in my refrigerator for 24 hours. This was perfect. The cake layers turned out soft and moist, and the cream icing is fluffy without melting or deforming. You do have to remove the whole cake from the packaging before thawing, to prevent damage to the cream icing on the exterior. I put a large, up-side-down mixing bowl over mine in the refrigerator to protect it while it thawed. But a plastic cake keeper would work just as well.
In its frozen manifestation, the cake is incredibly hard and sturdy. All the pieces are stuck in place with a mysterious magic force. Aldi manages to ship these around the world without anything getting damaged or sliding out of position, which is definitely some kind of grocer sorcery. The cakes are packed in a slide-out styrofoam circle, and shrink wrapped.
Although my cherry garnishes looked pretty questionable when frozen, they thawed to a lush, shiny, perky appearance. This cake makes a flawless transition from cryogenic limbo to fresh-tasting magnificence.
Here’s the cake after thawing. If I serve this again, I’ll probably put it on a plate that isn’t white — it just blends in too much to look optimal. Details, details.
Ingredients in Deutsche Küche Black Forest Cream Cake
Cream. So much cream. Yaaaaas. Two kinds of cherries. Three kinds of chocolate/cocoa.
Here are the full ingredients:
- Cream
- Wheat flour
- Morello cherries
- Sugar
- Invert Sugar
- Egg
- Water
- Cherries
- Apple jam (glucose syrup, apples, pectins, ciric acid)
- Chocolate (sugar, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, soy lecitihin)
- Vegetable oils (palm, canola)
- Corn starch
- Food starch – modified
- Medium fat cocoa
- Bovine gelatin
- Wheat starch
- Chocolate powder (medium fat cocoa, chocolate liquor, sugar)
- Mono- and diglycerides, Natural flavor, Whey, Citric acid, Calcium sulphate, Sodium carbonate, Sodium citrate, Salt, Dry whole milk
Impressively, there are no artificial colors or flavors.
More fun facts: this cake is made in Germany. The chocolate is Rainforest Alliance Certified.
Nutrition Facts in Aldi’s Frozen Black Forest Cream Cake
According to the box, there are 8 servings per cake of 98 grams each (3.46 ounces). Each slice has 240 calories, 11 grams of fat, 23 grams of sugar, and 4 grams of protein. Impressively, only 16 grams of the sugar are “added sugar.” The cake itself is approximately 8 inches in diameter.
As you can see from my photos, there are actually 10 cherry garnishes on top of 10 whipped cream rosettes. I definitely cut this into 10 slices instead of 8. Come on! We are not barbarians. Eight slices makes no sense. Not sure why the servings were divided that way on the label. A tenth of this cake is still a satisfying and reasonable serving.
Price and Shelf-life of Deutsche Küche Black Forest Cream Cake
The 27.5 ounce cake cost $7.99. Since there are eight servings (or ten, you monsters!), each serving costs a dollar.
My cake box had an expiration date roughly 1 year after my purchase date, which is an OK shelf-life. Unfortunately, after thawing, this cake only lasts a couple days in the refrigerator before it loses quality, so it needs to be eaten quickly. As a single person, eating this cake quickly enough before it spoils is a challenge. I may try slicing and thawing individual pieces next time.
More Reviews of Aldi Desserts You Might Like (or Hate)
Check out these other reviews of Aldi desserts I’ve recently written:
- Aldi Cherry Frangipane Tart (Deutsche Küche)
- Aldi Bienenstich Indulgent Cakes (Deutsche Küche)
- Aldi Fruits of the Forest Strudel (Deutsche Küche)
- Aldi Donauwelle Indulgent Cakes (Deutsche Küche)
Author’s note: I have no affiliation with Aldi, and I was not compensated in any way for this review.
