This cake takes 2 nights to make. The sponge will need to be prepared the day before assembly, as will the aquafaba syrup. Then the finished cake will need to sit over night in the fridge.
This sponge can also be made with normal flour. Substitute 1-to-1 the GF bread flour, for plain wheat flour.
Chocolate Sponge Ingredients
Eggs – 3
Sugar – 75g
Coco powder – 20g
GF bread flour – 70g
Chocolate Sponge Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 150 C Fan.
Whisk the eggs, slowly adding the sugar as the eggs start to foam. The eggs should become pale in colour and have reached the “ribbon stage”.
Sift and fold in the coco powder and gf bread flour in 3 goes.
Bake in a 15cm tin for 40 minutes.
Cool, cover in clingfilm, and put into the fridge overnight.
Aquafaba Cream Ingredients
Aquafaba – 150ml (usually from 1 tin of chic peas)
Sugar – 75g
Vegetable Shortening (100%fat) – 250g
Cream of tartar – 1/4tsp
Vanilla – 1tsp
Kirsch – 1tsp
Aquafaba Cream Instructions
Starting the night before the cake assembly, combine the aquafaba and sugar in a saucepan, bring to the boil, and simmer for 5 minutes. Put this aquafaba syrup into the fridge to cool overnight.
The next day, 1 hour before starting, take the aquafaba syrup out of the fridge. Also take the vegetable shortening out of the fridge.
Whisk the aquafaba syrup in a stand mixer. When it starts to foam add the 1/4tsp of cream of tartar.
Once the aquafaba has reached “stiff peaks” start adding the vegetable shortening 1tsp at a time. At this point, the cream is at risk of splitting, if this happenes, keep whisking, it will eventually come back together.
Add the vanilla and kirsch at the very end once the cream has come together.
Assembly & Decoration Ingredients
Dark cherries in syrup – 1 tin
Kirsch – 1tsp + 1tsp
Syrup from the tin of cherries – 3tsp + 3tsp
Dark Chocolate Shavings – 50g + 100g
Gold Lustre Dust – Optional
Fresh Cherries – 9
Assembly & Decoration Instructions
Slice the chocolate sponge into 2 layers. Use some cream to anchor the 1st layer of the sponge to a plate. Drizzle 1tsp of kirsch onto the 1st layer of sponge.
Open the tin of dark cherries in syrup, drizzle 3tsp of the syrup onto the 1st layer of sponge.
Cover the 1st layer of sponge in the cream, and embed as many tinned cherries that will fit into the cream.
Put a little bit of cream onto the underside of the 2nd layer of chocolate sponge, and place on top of the 1st layer with the cream and cherries.
Drizzle 1tsp of kirsch onto the 2nd layer of sponge, then drizzle 3tsp of the cherry syrup onto the 2nd layer of sponge.
Cover the cake with a little bit of cream to form a preliminary “crumb coat”.
Place in the fridge for 1 hour. Then finish covering the cake in cream. Pipe 8 blobs of cream around the circumference of the top of the cake, and place 8 fresh cherries into each cream blob.
Use 50g of the dark chocolate shavings to cover the sides of the cake.
Use the rest of the chocolate shavings to make triangle shard decorations – 3cm by 8cm. The chocolate will need to be tempered to 32 degrees C. Then spread onto a cold marble slab, then the triangles cut out before the chocolate sets.
Use a brush to apply the gold lustre dust to the tips of the chocolate triangles spreading it towards the shorter edge in a gradient.
Alternatively pipe the chocolate into a lattice and then cut into triangles; as seen in the pictures.
Position the chocolate triangles at an angle between each cream and cherry blob. Pipe 1 final cream blob into the centre of the cake, and top with the final fresh cherry.
Place the finished cake into the fridge over night, or for at least several hours before eating. This is to allow the kirsh and cherry syrup drizzle to moisten the chocolate sponge.
