Cherries Part III: chocolate cake

This is the last post on cherries. I did promise to give you a sample of what you can do with cherries, if you have been lucky enough to have some either from your own garden or a kind neighbour/friend who had too many and didn't know what to do with them.

I seemed to manage to post the focaccia recipe just in time before contractions started and had to dash to hospital waiting for our little son to arrive - he did eventually 12 hours later...I promise he wasn't late because of the fear of facing more cherries! Shame he won't have the chance to have a taste of it...a few more months!



What I love of fruit is the versatile use one can make of them - I could have probably gone up to 10 posts with cherries including savoury recipes but I thought you would have been slightly sick of me by then and no more cherries on the horizon anyway! So I have limited myself to three. I think that's enough.

This recipe can be done using other fruit as well like strawberries, oranges, or even peaches. Chocolate and cherries might not be a very original combination but it really does work! Also this cake is not too sweet and will please all those who watch their weight and care for their teeth!!

Chocolate and cherry cake

50g dark chocolate
100g flour
4 eggs
100g sugar
60g butter
2 handful of cherries or 3 tbsp cherry jam

Melt baigne marie the chocolate and once melted add the butter and sugar; incorporate well.

Beat the yolks with the sugar until fluffy. Add the butter when cool and mix well.

Sift the flour to the mixture and fold everything to make sure they are not lumps. Beat the egg whites and fold them to the mixture.

Grease a 10cm tin and flour it. Pour the mixture into the tin and scatter the cherries which inevitably will drop to the bottom. Alternatively you can cook the cake and then spread the jam on the surface when it's still warm.

Cook at 180C for 15-20 minutes or until well risen. Sprinkle icing sugar and serve!

 

And I can be proud of myself too, not just for basking the cake, but for posting this having typed it all just with one hand!