Chocolate cake with meringue & cherry

This is a delicious chocolate cake with cherry compote and lots of crispy meringues!

The calculation is for a 16 cm (6.3 inch) cake.

For the meringue:

• egg white 2 pcs | 2.00 items
• sugar 140 g | 4.95 oz
• dark chocolate 60 g | 2.10 oz

For the cherry compote:

• frozen cherries 120 g (juice + berries) + 4.25 oz
• frozen cherries 80 g (berries) + 2.80 oz
• gelatin 4 g + 0.15 oz
• water 20 g | 0.70 oz
• sugar 60 g (vary) | 2.10 oz
• pectin 3 g | 0.10 oz

For the biscuit:

• eggs 4 pcs | 4.00 items
• sugar 125 g | 4.40 oz
• flour 75 g | 2.65 oz
• cocoa 25 g | 0.90 oz
• melted butter 25 g | 0.90 oz

For the chocolate custard (interlayer and pre-covering):

• milk 500 g | 17.65 oz
• 1 egg | 1.00 items
•  2 yolks | 2.00 items
• sugar 100 g | 3.55 oz
• cornstarch 30 g (can be replaced with 50 g flour | 1.75 oz) | 1.05 oz
• dark chocolate (54.5%) 130 g | 4.60 oz
• butter 100 g | 3.55 oz

First, cook the meringue.

Mix the egg whites with sugar. Put it on a water bath, and heat until the sugar dissolves completely (stirring constantly). Remove the mass from the bath, and whip it for 10 to 15 minutes at a medium speed until stable peaks. Dry the meringue in a 14 cm (5.5 inch) ring mold for 4-5 hours at 80-90C (176 to 194F). You can also form many small meringues, then the baking will take much less time. Melt the chocolate, and cover all the meringue sides; refrigerate.

Soak the gelatin in water for 10 minutes. Defrost the cherries. Mash the juice and a part of the berries into puree. Put it on the heat, and add the pectin mixed with sugar; bring the mass to a boil, and boil for a minute. Remove the compote from the heat, and add the berries. Cool it slightly, and add the swollen gelatin. Freeze the mass in a 14 cm (5.5 inch) ring.

Cook the biscuit.

Whip the eggs with sugar in a dense foam for 10 minutes. Mix the cocoa with the flour, and sift in parts to the egg mass; pour in the melted butter. Mix the dough gently with a silicone spatula. Bake a 16 cm (6.3 inch) biscuit at 170C (338F) for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool the finished biscuit, and cut it into 3 cakes.

Mix the eggs, the starch and sugar. Bring the milk to a boil, and pour it into the egg mixture in a thin stream, stirring constantly. Place the mass back to a low heat, and mix until the bubbles appear. Remove it from the heat; add the chocolate, and mix until it dissolves.

Cover the mass with the cling film in contact, and cool it completely. Whip the room temperatured butter for a few minutes. Add the cooled custard little by little, and mix well each time. Put the finished custard in the fridge for about 3 hours.

Assemble the cake, following the next order:

A sponge biscuit – optional cherry juice soaking – custard – meringue – custard – a sponge biscuit (soaking) – custard – the compote – custard – a sponge biscuit – pre-coating.