Cherry & Chocolate Zebra Cake

First of all, I would like to apologise. It has been a while since my last cake recipe. I hope this one makes up for it. Chocolate and cherries are always a great combination (in my opinion) – just think of Black Forest Gateau – but this is fairly easy to make and without the booze (though you could soak the cherries in something alcoholic, I suppose).

This is a seriously deceptive cake. It looks like normal marble cake with a few cherries thrown it for good measure, but it is quite decadent and does contain two bars of chocolate and a fair bit of cream. I think that these ingredients give the cake its extra ‘yumminess’. And boy, it is yummy!

I hope you get a chance to bake it and try it – you won’t regret it!

You will need:

350g drained cherries from a glass or a tin
200ml whipping or single cream
100g white cooking chocolate
100g dark cooking chocolate
200g unsalted butter (room temperature)
150g white sugar
1 vanilla pod or a few drops vanilla essence
200g flour
1 tsp baking powder
60g cornflour
4 eggs

Preheat the oven to 180C if you have a fan oven, 200C for a conventional oven or gas mark 4.

Drain the cherries.

Get two small bowls ready and chop the dark chocolate into one and the white chocolate into the other. Bring 100ml of the cream to the boil and pour it over the dark chocolate. Stir until it is smooth and liquid. Repeat with the other 100ml of cream and the white chocolate.

(click images to enlarge)

In another bowl, cream the butter, sugar and vanilla.

Mix the flour, baking powder and cornflour.

Now add the flour and the 4 eggs to the butter mixture, one quarter and one egg at a time until it is all thoroughly mixed.

Divide into two equal parts and add the dark chocolate mix to one, the white chocolate one to the other.

Now line a 26cm round baking tin with greaseproof paper and, one spoon at a time, add the two mixtures into the middle of the tin, taking turns with the dark and white chocolate mixture. It does not matter if it is not symmetrical just add one spoon after the other and don’t smooth the mix in the tin.