COOKBOOK: The Australian All Colour Cook Book
This just happens to be my husband’s favourite cake so I had to ensure this wasn’t going to be a flop!
It was just delicious! Easy enough to bake and decorate and it can make a great birthday cake as an alternative. Enjoy
RECIPE
Serves 8-10
100g butter, room temperature
6 eggs, lightly beaten
225g sugar
175g self raising flour
50g cocoa powder
1 tablespoon vanilla essence
60ml cherry brandy
3x 425g canned pitted cherries
600g whipping / thickened cream
2 tablespoons sugar
100g chocolate
1 tablespoon arrowroot
Grease a 23cm cake tin. I used a tin with a removable base.
Beat the butter for a min or two. Gradually add the sugar, eggs and vanilla essence. Mix until well combined. Add flour in batches & cocoa. Transfer the cake batter back into the tin. Bake in a moderate oven (180C - 350F) for approx 40mins or until cooked through (test in centre with a skewer)
Remove cake from tin and allow it to cool down. Slice the cake in half horizontally. Carefully lift the top layer, turn it over and allow the cake to cool again for another 15mins or so.
In the meantime beat the thickened cream for a min or two, gradually add the two spoons of sugar and beat until stiff and can hold its shape.
Drain the cherries and retain all of the juice. Take approx 7-8 tablespoons of cherry syrup and mix it with the cherry brandy. Spoon some of this mixture on both the bottom of the base layer of the cake and underneath the top layer of the cake.
Take 1/4 of the thickened cream and spread over the bottom layer of the cake. Take half of the cherries and place them evenly over the cream. Take the top piece of cake and place it carefully over the cherries. Take another 1/4 of the thickened cream mixture and spread over the top of the cake leaving approx a finger thickness around the cake. With a piping bag, fit a large decorative nozzle, add the remainder of the thickened cream and pipe it on the edge of the cake. Take the rest of the cherries and decorate the top of the cake . In a pot on very low heat, add the arrowroot and slowly add the remainder of the juice, tablespoon by tablespoon. Whisk away until its a smooth mixture.
Brush the top cherries with the glaze. Top cake with shaved chocolate. It can be refrigerated but can be served without refrigeration.
