Morgan’s Pink Forest Gateau Recipe

Ingredients

  • 150g butter

  • 180g Montezuma's dark chocolate (I used the buttons)

  • 250g Cotswold plain flour

  • 250g golden caster sugar

  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

  • ½ tsp salt

  • 2 eggs

  • 175g sour cream

  • 75ml cherry liqueur

  • 300ml double cream

  • 2tbsp icing sugar

  • 6 tbsp cherry juice

  • ½ a jar of The Cherry Tree Cherry with Amaretto Extra Jam

  • fresh cherries

Method

  • Preheat the oven to 160ºC no Fan. Line three, 6” cake tins

  • Slowly heat the butter and chocolate together in a pan until the chocolate is fully melted, then leave to one side to cool

  • To the bowl of your stand mixer, add the flour, sugar, bicarb and salt. Mix together

  • Whisk the eggs and sour cream together in a separate bowl until smooth then slowly whisk in the chocolate mixture. Add this to the dry ingredients and set your mixer going slowly to fully incorporate. Add the cherry liqueur to loosen the batter

  • Divide between the three tins, level off the tops and bake for 25-30 minutes until risen and cooked through. Allow to cool slightly in the tins before removing to a wire rack to cool fully

  • To assemble, you may need to level the tops of the sponges with a knife (the offcuts can be devoured later). Gently heat 2 tablespoons of the The Cherry Tree Cherry with Amaretto Extra Jam, with 2 tablespoons more of the cherry liqueur and slather over the tops of the three sponges

  • Add the double cream, icing sugar and cherry juice (this can be more of the jam and liqueur mix if no cherry juice is available) and whisk until firm peaks appear

  • Place one sponge right side up on a serving plate and pipe or spread a ring of cream around the outside. Fill the middle with jam. Repeat this on one more of the sponges having placed it on top of the first. For the last sponge, invert so the baked bottom is now on top and pop it on top of the stack. Decorate the top with the rest of the cream however creatively you feel and top with fresh cherries