Decoration
- 1 pound [454 g] dark chocolate
Cake
- 1 tablespoon [15 g] butter
- 3 tablespoons [26.25 g] sifted flour [for the pans]
- 5 eggs, separated
- 3/4 cup [150 g] sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon [1 mL] vanilla powder [1 teaspoon / 5 ml liquid vanilla]
- 1/2 cup [70 g] flour
- 1/2 cup [125 mL] cocoa powder
- 3/8 cup [84 g] melted butter
Syrup
- 1/2 cup [100 g] sugar
- 1 cup [250 mL] water
- 1/2 cup [125 mL] Kirsch
To Decorate
- 3 3/4 cups [940 mL] whipping cream
- 1/2 cup [125 mL] icing sugar
- 6 ounces [170 g] fresh English Morello cherries, with stems
or
1 [6-ounce / 170-mL] jar well drained and patted dry Maraschino cherries with stems
- Lemon juice [for English Morello cherries]
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Decoration
- Cover a flat surface with wax paper.
- Using a vegetable peeler, peel dark chocolate, trying to create as long as possible rolls [wide rolls from the top, narrow rolls from the sides].
- Loosely cover; refrigerate until ready to decorate the cake.
Cake
- Lightly butter 3 round 8-inch [20-cm] each cake pans; lightly sprinkle each pan with 1 tablespoon [8,75 g] flour.
- Shake pans to remove excess flour.
- Preheat oven to 350°F [180°C].
- Into a large bowl, using a wire whisk, whisk together eggs, vanilla and sugar until mixture is thick, light in color and forms a thread.
- Folding delicately with a spoon, slowly sift together flour and cocoa powder into eggs mixture.
- Stirring delicately, pour in melted butter 1 tablespoon [15 g] at a time.
- Evenly pour dough into prepared cake pans.
- Bake into preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes, until done.
- Cakes are done when the blade of a knife comes out clean from their centers.
- Leave to cool for 10 minutes before unmolding onto wire racks; leave to cool completely.
- Meanwhile, prepare syrup.
- Using a fork, poke holes into cakes; using a spoon, slowly pour syrup over cakes.
- Leave cakes to rest while whipping decorating cream.
- Remove chocolate curls from refrigerator.
- Arrange one of the cakes onto a serving plate.
- Frost cake with 1/2-inch [2.5-cm] thick whipped cream; top with a few well-drained stemmed cherries.
- Delicately arrange second cake on top; frost with 1/2-inch [2.5-cm] thick whipped cream; top with a few well-drained stemmed cherries.
- Delicately arrange third cake on top.
- Completely cover cake with almost all of remaining whipped cream, reserving a little to decorate.
- With your fingers, delicately arrange chocolate curls all around cake, reserving a few longer curls to decorate top.
- Decorate top with whipped cream, a little thicker in the center, then with remaining cherries with stems all around top, at approximately 1/3 from the sides.
- Decorate whipped cream mound with reserved chocolate curls.
Syrup
- Over medium heat, heat together sugar and water to completely melt sugar; higher heat and leave to boil rapidly for 5 minutes.
- Take away from heat; leave to cool for approximately 20 minutes, until completely cooled.
- Stir in Kirsch.
To Decorate
- Using a wire whip, whip cream until thick.
- Beat in icing sugar, until stiff peaks form.
- If using, rinse English Morello cherries under cold running water; drain and pat dry before sprinkling cherries with lemon juice.
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