Chocolate Cherry Cake

Hey Guys, I made this cake at school (because we got to make any cake we wanted to) but I made all the decorations etc. at home. The cake was easy to make but the decorations were a little fiddly and took a lot of time to make, it was worth it though as all my family really enjoyed it. It is basically a simple chocolate cake covered in chocolate ganache and fondant/white chocolate decorations.

The Cake

Ingredients
100g unsalted butter, at room temperature

260g caster sugar
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
45g cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
170g plain flour
160 ml milk

2 x 20cm cake tins, base-lined with greaseproof paper                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees C.

2. Cream the butter and sugar (using a handheld electric whisk) until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well and scraping any unmixed ingredients from the side of the bowl with a rubber spatula after each addition.

3. Turn the mixer down to a slow speed and beat in the vanilla extract, cocoa powder, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt until well mixed. Then, add half the flour, then all the milk, and finish with the remaining flour. Mix well until everything is well combined.

4. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tins and smooth over with a palette knife. Bake in the oven for 25 mins and leave the cakes to cool slightly in the tins before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

Filling and Decorating

Ingredients
200g (approx. half a jar) cherries (stoned)
600ml double cream
600g dark chocolate
100g white chocolate
Pink, blue and green food colouring

300g fondant icing

Method

1. To make the chocolate ganache, break the chocolate into a microwavable bowl. Then, bring the cream to the boil and pour it over the chocolate. Next, submerge the chocolate beneath the cream and leave undisturbed for 2 minutes.

2. Now, start gently stirring the chocolate and cream, until the cream is fully incorporated into the chocolate. Eventually, the lumps of chocolate will fully dissolve and the chocolate ganache should become smooth and glossy.

3. Top the first sponge with 1/4 of the chocolate ganache, then place a layer of  the cherries on top (I like to place them in concentric circles). Next, place the other sponge on top of the cherries and cover the cake (top and sides) with the remaining chocolate ganache.

4. Finally arrange the decorations on the top and sides of the cake.

I hope you like it, thanks for reading. Please comment below and it'd be great if you made it!