BLACK FOREST ROULADE

Preparation 40 minutes, plus cooling Cooking 25 minutes Serves 8-10 If you can’t find fresh Morello cherries, use bottled ones or a sweet-sour hybrid.

butter, for greasing 125g caster sugar, plus extra for dusting plain flour, for dusting 125g plain chocolate, broken into pieces 4 large eggs, separated 2 tbsp granulated sugar 1 tbsp kirsch FOR THE FILLING 150ml double cream 1 tbsp icing sugar, sifted, plus extra for dusting 1 tbsp kirsch 300g morello cherries, pitted cocoa powder, for dusting

1 Heat the oven to 180ºc (160ºc fan oven) gas mark 4. Lightly grease a 33cm x 23cm Swiss roll tin, line the base and sides with baking parchment, then dust with caster sugar and flour. 2 Melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring once or twice. Set the bowl aside to cool slightly. 3 Whisk the yolks with the caster sugar until fluffy and lighter in colour. Beat in the chocolate. 4 In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff. Using a large metal spoon,

fold a tablespoon of the whites into the chocolate mixture to loosen it, then carefully but quickly fold in the remainder. 5 Gently turn the cake mixture into the prepared tin, smooth the top and bake for 20-25 minutes until the cake pulls away from the sides. Dust a large piece of baking parchment with caster sugar and turn the cake out onto it. Cover with a damp tea towel. When the cake has cooled, roll it up loosely from the short end with the baking parchment still in place and set aside until ready to fill. 6 Dissolve the granulated sugar in 1 tablespoon boiling water. Stir in the kirsch. Gently unroll the cake and brush the syrup all over its surface. 7 For the filling, whip the cream with the icing sugar and kirsch until it just holds its shape. Spread the cake with the cream, leaving a 2-3cm border, then scatter the cherries on top. Gently roll up the cake from one short end and place on a plate seam-side down. Serve dusted with cocoa powder and icing sugar.