Chocolate Cherry Cake

Chocolate cherry cake was my second project this long weekend! Every month I have to make a birthday day for our church fellowship to celebrate people's birthday in that month. I've started doing that since the beginning of last year, and so far I have been able to do a different cake every month! After 12 cakes, now I'm struggling to find a 'different' cake to make. Thanks to Mable who randomly bought me a dessert recipe book from Hong Kong where I found this recipe! 

I usually have to double the recipe when I make a fellowship birthday cake, because we usually have around 20-25 people! And not after I started making the cake, I realised how much butter, and chocolate are used in this cake! Gosh... I don't think I've ever used so much butter and choco in one cake before! And the topic in that fellowship was about 'healthy body'! Sorry guys! Everyone only had a small piece, so I guess it didn't hurt much! =P 

This recipe below is a normal portion! 

Ingredients:

Cocoa Sponge Base

300g eggs

150g sugar

200g plain flour

180g butter

110g milk 

40g cocoa

Kirsch Chocolate Cream Filling

200g cocoa sponge cake crumbs

200g dark Chocolate

235ml whipping cream

20g inverted sugar

40g butter

150g canned dark sweet cherries

15ml kirsch 

Chocolate Glaze

40g dark chocolate

50ml cream

1. Preheat oven to 180C. Beat the eggs until foamy. Add sugar and beat until pale and thick. 

2. Heat the milk up and add butter. Stir until it melts. Pour the hot milk into the egg and sugar mixture and stir well. Sieve in flour and cocoa. Fold in gently.

3. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Pour the batter in. Bake for 20min. Leave to cool.

4. Measure the diameter of cake tine, and cut the cocoa sponge into thin 4 think slices horizontally with the correct shape. Blend the remaining sponge in a blender into cake crumbs.

1. Boil the cream and turn off the heat. Stir in inverted sugar, chocolate butter and kirsch. Stire until chocolate and sugar.

2. Drain the dark sweet cherries, chop them finely and set aside. 

3. Mix the chocolate mixture, chopped dark cherries and cake crumbs together. 

1. In a cake tin, put in a slice of cocoa sponge. Spread a layer of kirsch chocolate cream filling on top. Place another slice of cocoa sponge over the filling. Repeat untill the mixtures are use up. 

2. Spread the chocolate gnanche on top of the cake and decorate with fresh raspberries.

After I've made the cake, I truly thought to myself that this cake would be soooo dense, and it will turn out like a heavy mud cake. But surprise surprise... it actually turned out to be not heavy at all! But I wouldn't call it 'light' though!  =P At the end of the day, I quite like this cake and I'll make it again!!!

Inverted sugar - what is inverted sugar??? I had no idea! But I did a little research online, apparently you an get it in some cake supplies shop! Due to the limited time frame, I used a large spoonful of 'golden syrup' instead. Apparently it works in a similar way according to a few websites! And it turned out fine! so i guess the websites didn't iie! =P

For this cake, I definitely made a big mess in the kitchen, crumbs were everywhere on the bench and on the floor from cake cutting, a lot of dirty bowls, and utensils. But thanks to my lovely hubby who are always (ummm... 99% of the time) willing to clean up the mess after me! Thank youuuuuu!!!! =)