Cherries, Cherries and Cherries, oh my. Cherries are my favorite fruit without a doubt. And when you add cherries with triple chocolate brownies, to me you have a perfect combination of decadence. Actually, it’s my favorite fruit and chocolate combo.
On that note, I would like to also mention that chocolate covered cherries are my favorite chocolate. While most love all the fancy dark chocolate and truffles, I prefer the chocolate covered cherry. Not just any chocolate covered cherry but Cella’s Milk Chocolate Covered Cherries. So when I think of a brownie with dark sweet cherries my brain goes into overdrive. What could be better than a rich triple chocolate brownie with the perfect balance of whipped topping and finished off with sweet cherry compote?
The other deeply delicious and functional secret to this recipe? Cream cheese whipped cream! Using a bit of cream cheese not only helps stabilize the cream, but it adds a rich, cultured, tangy flavor that plays off the fudgy chocolate and sweet black cherries.
I have made this version of brownies with homemade brownie recipes and box brownie mix and either is really good. But using a box brownie mix makes things a lot easier and the Ghirardelli Triple Chocolate Brownie Mix is to die for. Also true to children’s form, my grandchildren like the box brownie mix better.
I used fresh cherries for this batch of brownies which I pitted using a cherry pitter that I purchased on Amazon. It never fails, you bring out the cherry pitter and all my grandsons want to get into the kitchen to play with the gadget. I remember when Black Forest Cakes became a thing in the 1970’s. It was all the rage and a Black Forest Cake was sure to show up on every buffet table in every church reception hall. Remember those days? Warm Sunday afternoons sharing lunch on the church lawn with all the woman parishioners competing to see whose cake would be devoured first. Honestly, the Black Forest Cake was usually the first to fly off the dessert table.
Chocolate covered cherry lovers will go crazy for these Black Forest Brownies! They’re thick, fudgy, and loaded with rich chocolate cherry flavor. This recipe is one of our favorite brownie recipes and always a crowd-pleaser!
This rich scrumptious cherry chocolate brownie is very much like a Black Forest Cake. It takes inspiration from the traditional Black Forest Cake, but instead of cake we’re making the deepest darkest fudgy brownies! I hope your family enjoys this recipe as much as my family enjoys it.
Oh So Good Black Forest Brownies
Course: DessertCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy10
servings20
minutes35
minutesChocolate covered cherry lovers will go crazy for these Black Forest Brownies! They’re thick, fudgy, and loaded with rich cherry flavor,
Ingredients
- Brownie:
1 box of brownie mix (I used Ghirardelli triple chocolate brownie mix)
Ingredients needed according to the brownie mix
- Cream Topping:
4 tablespoons of Cream Cheese
1 cup heavy whipping cream
- Cherry Compote:
1 cup of pitted black cherries, halved (fresh or frozen)
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon corn starch
2 tablespoons cold water
Directions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line an 8×8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overhang on each end and butter the exposed sides.
- Prepare and bake brownies according to package directions.
- Pour into prepared baking pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of brownies comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and cool completely.
- For the topping, begin beating cream cheese with 1/2 cup of whipping cream until smooth. Add remaining cream and beat until firm peaks form. Spread over cooled brownies and chill.
- For the compote, combine cherries and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat and cook until cherries soften and release their juices. Break the cherries down and cut them up with a fork. Simmer for 5 minutes until the sugar is dissolved and the syrup thickens. Stir in lemon juice. Combine corn starch and water to make a slurry and then add to the saucepan. Stir slurry into cherry mixture and boil for 30 seconds to thicken. Pour into a bowl and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.
- Spoon chilled cherry compote over the cream topping layer on the brownies. Shave a chocolate bar over top of cherry compote layer and serve!
