Ingredients
- Chocolate Cake:
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 cup boiling water
- Dark Chocolate Ganache:
- 4 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
- 3 ounces heavy whipping cream
- 1 tablespoons butter
- Dark Cherry Filling:
- 14 ounces dark cherries
- 5 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch, sifted
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon kirsch or brandy
- Mascarpone Whipped Cream:
- 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
Preparation
Step 1
Chocolate Cake:
Preheat oven to 350f. Grease and line the bottoms of two 9″ round springform cake tins.
In a bowl, combine sugar, flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Whisk to combine.
In the bowl of your mixer, combine the beaten eggs, vegetable oil, and milk. Gently mix on low for a minute then pour in the dry ingredients – continue mixing on low until well combined.
Pour the boiling water into the batter and mix until smooth and divide the batter between the two cake tins.
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a skewer (or toothpick) inserted into the center of the cakes come out clean. Remove from the oven and let them cool for 15 minutes before removing from tin, let cakes cool completely on a rack.
Dark Chocolate Ganache:
Place the chopped chocolate in a bowl and set aside. In a saucepan, heat the cream and butter just until simmering. Pour the hot cream mixture over the chocolate. Let sit for a minute and then whisk the cream into the chocolate until smooth.
Spread the ganache on top of one of the cooled chocolate cakes and leave to set for a couple of hours.
Dark Cherry Filling:
Put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix, then let sit for at least half an hour. Spoon the mixture into a saucepan over medium heat and stir slowly until it begins to become almost jammy (it thickens) and the cherries start to break up a little (around 10 – 15 minutes). Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Mascarpone Whipped Cream:
Combine the mascarpone cheese and cream in a bowl. Whip until it thickens and holds a little shape (soft peak stage). Add the powdered sugar to the cream, continue whipping just until you reach stiff peaks. Refrigerate until required but do not leave it too long (1/2 hour maximum).
Assembly:
Take the ganache topped cake and spread with a thick layer of the marscapone cream, top this with the cherry mixture and place the second layer of the cake on top.
Cover the top of the cake with the remaining cream. Decorate with fresh cherries or chocolate shavings if you wish and store in the refrigerator.