1. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Grease and line the base of 3 x 20cm cake tins. Boil the kettle. Put the butter and 75g chocolate broken into chunks in a small pan and gently heat, stirring, until completely melted.
2. Mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa and bicarbonate of soda with a pinch of salt in a mixing bowl. Whisk the eggs and yogurt together. Scrape the melted chocolate mixture and egg mixture into the dry ingredients, add 100ml boiling water and whizz briefly with an electric whisk until the cake batter is lump free.
3. Divide the mixture between the tins and bake for 25 mins, swapping the tins round after 20 mins if they're on different shelves. To test they're done, push in a skewer and check that it comes out clean.
4. Prick the cakes a few times with a skewer. Drizzle Black Shuck Sloe Gin over the cakes. Cool the cakes.
5. Mix the cherries with the jam. 3Tip 200ml of the cream into a small pan and heat until just below simmering point. Chop the remaining chocolate and put in a heatproof bowl, pour the hot cream over the chocolate and stir until melted. Set aside to cool until spreadable.
6. When the cakes are cool whisk the remaining cream and the icing sugar together until softly whipped. Spread over two of the cakes, then spoon over the cherries. Stack the cakes together. Spread the chocolate cream over the third cake and sit on top of the other cakes. Arrange the Black Shuck Chocolate Truffles around the top of the cake and serve.
Pinch of salt
2 medium eggs
200g natural yoghurt
100g cherry jam
4 tablespoon s Black Shuck Sloe Gin
8 Black Shuck Truffles
400g fresh black cherries destined (alternatively use canned pitted cherries)
500ml double cream
3 tablespoons icing sugar
175g butter
200g plain chocolate
300g plain flour
375g caster sugar
25g cocoa
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
INGREDIENTS
BLACK SHUCK FOREST GATEAUX