Bake a chocolate cake 18cm OR 20cm in diameter. My ‘Super Easy Chocolate Cake’ recipe can be found here. (http://www.hirokoliston.com/super-easy-chocolate-cake/) Turn onto a wire rack to cool completely, then cut horizontally into 2 or 3 layers using a large serrated knife.
Drain the pitted cherries, reserving 1/4 cup of the juice. Reserve 12 good-looking cherries for decoration.
Use an electric beater or a whisk to beat cream in a large bowl until firm peaks form. *Note: You may wish to add 1 tablespoon Caster Sugar to the cream before beating. I always add NO sugar to the cream.
Mix reserved cherry juice and Kirsch in a small bowl.
Place 1st layer of cake on a serving plate and drizzle over the kirsch mixture. Spread the cream and arrange the cherries evenly. Repeat if you have three layers. Then finish with the top layer of the cake.
Spread some cream over the top (and side of the cake if you wish). Decorate the cake with the remaining cream, cherries and shaved dark chocolate.
