Need an Oktoberfest dessert or a gorgeous holiday board? You’ve come to the right place! Black Forest Cake is one of my favorite German treats. I’ve translated that delightful chocolate-cherry-whipped cream combination to a board paired with another popular German treat: pretzels!

Now you could make your own pretzels if you have more patience than me but lately I am obsessed with Eastern Standard Provisions pretzels. I’ve sent boxes to so many people! They are unbelievably high quality. You bake or freeze them immediately when they arrive and they thaw in less than hour so you can have a bakery-quality soft pretzel any time. This was my first time trying their Turnbuckle pretzel sticks. As soon as I saw them, I thought they would make the perfect dippers and I was right!

Some Eastern Standard Provisions boxes come with French toast sugar (or you can add it on to any order), cinnamon sugar that almost has a gold hue to it when baked, perfect for the holiday season! You can apply any of ESP’s pretzels or sugars with melted butter but I don’t love greasy pretzels so I applied with water. These only take 3-4 minutes to bake so you’re a song away from the BEST board at this point.

I’ve never really been a sweet pretzel person so I honestly don’t even know how this board combo came to me but my mom and I were swooning eating it. It’s so fun to dip in two or all three options. They go so well together! I never knew how much I needed to dip a warm cinnamon-sugar pretzel into oozy cherry sauce, luscious ganache, and pillowy whipped cream until I did. I hope you love this as much as we did!

Black Forest Pretzel Board
1 cup chocolate ganache, recipe follows
1 cup black cherry sauce, recipe follows
1 cup whipped cream, recipe follows
Eastern Standard Pretzel Bites and Turnbuckle Pretzel Sticks topped with French Toast Sugar (or homemade pretzels topped with cinnamon sugar!)
Rosemary for garnish

1. Make the whipped cream and cherry sauce. Bake pretzels. Make the chocolate sauce while the pretzels are in the oven. Arrange everything on a board and garnish with rosemary.

Cherry Sauce
2 cups (10 oz) frozen black cherries
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup water + 2 Tbsp, divided 
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp almond extract

1. Bring cherries, sugar, and water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Whisk together 2 Tbsp water and 1 Tbsp cornstarch until smooth; stir into cherry sauce. Return to a boil and cook for one minute or until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in almond extract. Transfer to a bowl.

Chocolate Sauce
4 oz dark chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream

1. Finely chop chocolate and place in a glass bowl. Heat cream in the stove or in the microwave just until it starts to bubble. Pour warm cream over the chocolate pieces. Let sit for one minute, then whisk until smooth and glossy. Transfer to bowl.

Whipped Cream
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 Tbsp powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Whip ingredients together with a hand mixer or with a whisk until soft peaks form. Transfer to bowl.

Want a savory pretzel option? Head over to my Cheese Sauce & Pretzel post!

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Tschuss,

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