½ cup kirsch for sprinkling
Filling:
125g butter
3 ½ cups icing sugar
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon strong black coffee
750 g pitted tinned cherries, drained
Icing:
2 cups thickened cream
½ teaspoon vanilla essence
1 tablespoon kirsch
30 g dark chocolate for curls
Preheat oven to 180ºC. Line the bottoms of two 20c m round pans with baking paper circles. Sift together flour, cocoa, bicarb soda and salt, set aside.
Cream shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat. Add the flour mixture, alternating with buttermilk, and beat until combined. Pour into prepared pans.
Bake for 35 – 40 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool completely. Remove paper from the cakes. Cut each layer in half, horizontally, making 4 layers total. Sprinkle layers with the ½ cup Kirschwasser.
In a medium bowl cream the butter until light and fluffy. Add confectioners sugar, pinch of salt and coffee; beat until smooth. If the consistency is too thick add a couple teaspoons of cherry juice or milk. Spread first layer of cake with 1/3 of the filling. Top with 1/3 of the cherries. Repeat with the remaining layers.
In a separate bowl whip the cream to stiff peaks. Beat in the vanilla and Kirschwasser. Ice top and sides of cake. Sprinkle with chocolate curls made by using a potato peeler on dark chocolate.
