Mix the dry ingredients together.

Add egg yolk and butter cut into cubes and mix all together – preferably with a dough cutter. Knead the dough as briefly as possible so that he crust won’t get too hard after baking.

Chill the dough for about 30 min and roll out to a round of c. 2-3 mm thickness.

Bake for about 10 min at 175°C and keep a close eye on it as this thin a dough sheet can get brown very quickly.

While still warm, use your spring form to ‘cut’ the right size bottom.

Handle very carefully as this thin pie crust layer easily breaks

Whisk the egg yolks with the warm water until foamy

Add about two thirds of the sugar and the vanilla sugar and beat until light in colour and creamy.

Now whisk the egg whites – while slowly trickling in the remaining sugar – until stiff peaks.

Carefully mix the stiff egg whites under the egg yolk batter.

Mix flour, starch, baking powder, and cacao power and sift into the batter

Carefully mix all together.

Put the batter into a buttered 9” spring form and even out the top.

Bake at 190°C for about 30 min

Drain the cherries and retain 13 for decoration

Bring 250 ml of the drained cherry juice with the sugar (if you decide to use sugar) and the cinnamon to a light boil.

Mix the corn starch with a little cold water and add to the juice.

Bring to a boil again and add the cherries.

Stir carefully to not smash the cherries.

Bring to a very brief boil again, remove from heat and let it cool down.

Add the Kirsch

Mix ‘Whip It’ and sugar.

Start whisking the very cold heavy cream and steadily trickle in the sugar mixture.

Whisk until stiff peaks

Finally add in the Kirsch

Start whisking the very cold heavy cream and steadily trickle in the sugar.

Whisk until soft peaks

Mix gelatin with Kirsch and over a near-hot water (double boiler style) dissolve the gelatin

Cool gelatin to body temperature – do not let it get too cold

Continue whisking cream and drizzle in the dissolved gelatin

Whisk the cream to stiff peaks

Make sure the cherries are dry

Use a peeler or knife’s edge to create chocolate shavings

Keep both cool until use

Cut the well cooled biscuit horizontally into three even layers

Mix the cherry juice with the Kirsch and sugar (if you want to use sugar)

Drizzle the three biscuit layers with the mixture to lightly drench them

Cover the edges of a cake plate with aluminum or baking paper

(to keep the plate clean during assembly)

Place the pie crust layer on the cake plate

Cover the pie crust layer with about 2 tblsp of the cherry filling sauce (without any cherries)

Place the first biscuit layer on the pie crust

Add all cherries onto the first biscuit and only as much sauce as needed to cover the cherries

Add just about a quarter of the whipped cream on top of the cherries and spread evenly – let the cream go slightly over the edges

Place the second biscuit layer on top of the cake and add the next quarter of the whipped cream on that; again spread the cream evenly and a little of the edges

Place the final biscuit layer on top of that

Retain enough whipped cream into a piping bag to make 13 rosettes (1 for each of the 12 slices plus one for the middle)

Generously cover the cake top and sides evenly with as much of the whipped cream as needed

Pipe 12 whipped cream rosettes around the outer edge of the cake

(the farther to the edge you pipe them, the larger your cake will appear)

Sprinkle some of the shaved chocolate in the centre of the cake top

Pipe the last whipped cream rosette in the middle of the cake

Sprinkle the remaining shaved chocolate around the side of the cake

Place the 13 retained cherries on top of the whipped cream rosettes

Carefully remove the aluminum/baking paper from the cake plate