Chocolate and cherries are a fabulous combination, made all the better here by the contrast of lighter than air cake with juicy whole cherries on top.
Makes one 20 cm (8 in) cake
Prep: 45 minutes
Bake: 30–35 minutes
Oven: 160°c (fan)/180°c/350°F/Gas Mark 4
8 eggs
250g (9oz) caster (superfine) sugar
100g (31⁄2oz) butter, melted and cooled
120g (4oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
80g (3oz) cocoa powder
100g (31⁄2oz) cherries, pitted and chopped
350ml (12fl oz) double (heavy) cream
2 tbsp icing (confectioners) sugar
75g (23⁄4oz) dark chocolate, melted
260g (9oz) cherries
Gold edible glitter for decoration (optional)
Cocoa powder, to dust
Electric hand mixer
Silicone spatula
3 × 20cm (8in) sandwich tins (layer cake pans)
Fresh cherries are ideal but if you don’t fancy the hassle of removing the stones tinned or frozen cherries will do the trick.
1 Follow the method for the Summer Fruit Genoise but replace the 200g (7oz) plain (all-purpose) flour with a mixture of 120g (3⁄4oz) plain (all-purpose) flour and 80g (3oz) cocoa powder, sifted together. Fold the chopped cherries into a third of the mixture – this is for the middle layer.
2 For the cream filling softly whip the double cream with the icing sugar. Melt 75g (23⁄4oz) of dark chocolate and set aside to cool a little before stirring through the whipped cream. Set aside 8 whole cherries and roughly chop the remainder.
3 Reserve 100g (31⁄2oz) of the chopped cherries and fold the remaining through the chocolate cream. Assemble the cakes with the cherry studded cake in the middle, applying the cream filling between each.
4 Spread the remaining cream on top of the cake and dust with cocoa. Position the 8 whole cherries around the edge and sprinkle on the reserved roughly chopped cherries. A sprinkle of gold edible glitter is optional but adds a lovely touch of sparkle! Serve.