Ingredients
- 6 large eggs, separated
- 160g caster sugar
- 60g cocoa powder
- 30g self raising flour
- 2tbs kirsch liqueur
- For the filling and topping:
- 3tbs icing sugar, sifted
- 1tbs vanilla paste
- 250g mascarpone
- 1 punnet of fresh cherries, stones removed
- 3tbs cherry jam
- 50g 70% chocolate
- Preheat the oven to 190 degrees and line a 450g loaf tin with baking parchment.
- Place the egg whites in a mixer bowl and whisk at a high speed until the eggs form soft peaks. Add half the sugar and whisk until the meringue is glossy and forms stiff peaks. Put to one side.
- Place the egg yolks in a mixing bowl with the remaining half of the sugar and whisk at full speed until the mix has doubled in size and turned pale; this takes about three minutes.
- Add the cocoa powder, flour and kirsch to the egg yolk mix and fold together until it is combined.
- Fold the meringue into the egg yolk mix in three stages, keeping in as much air as possible. Once combined, pour this into the lined loaf tin and tap to allow the mixture to fill all the corners.
- Place the tin in the oven and cook for 20-25 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes away clean. The mix will soufflé up slightly but will level out as it cools. Turn it out upside down after about 10 minutes on a flat surface and remove the parchment, which gives a rectangular shape.
- For the filling, add the icing sugar and vanilla to the mascarpone and mix with a spoon until smooth. Slice the pitted cherries in half and set aside.
- To assemble the gateau, cut the cake in three through the middle. Spread a layer of cherry jam, a thin layer of the mascarpone filling and some halved cherries on two of the layers and sit one on top of the other. Place the remaining layer of cake on top, spread the remaining mascarpone on it, then finely grate the chocolate to cover the top before slicing and serving.
