Coco cake with cherries

A few years ago I came up with a foolproof basic cake recipe, which I have used ever since, each time I make a cake. Whether it's a version with mixed spice, lemon and vanilla or apple and cinnamon, the base is always the same. This time I'd like to share with you one of my favourites, a wholemeal cake with coco and cherries. I am not normally one of those people with strange food carvings, but when it's late in the evening and I'm curled up on the sofa watching a good movie, I sometimes find myself wishing for a piece of chocolate cake with cherries. Last week I felt that way and went to the kitchen to satisfy my appetite. When the mixture was rising, I sat in front of the oven, looking through the glass and enjoying the thought that I would soon have a bite of that lovely cake. Fortunately, I could resist the temptation of eating it whilst still hot and patiently waited till tea-time. Ingredients for one cake - 200g wholemeal flour - 30g coco powder - 250g cherries, I used frozen, deseeded ones and cut them in halves - zest of 1 organic lemon - 8g baking powder - 3 eggs, yolks and whites separated - 100g sugar - 4g vanilla sugar - 150mL water - 150mL sunflower oil Preheat the oven at 180 degrees Celsius. Grease a cake tin of 24cm with some oil and dust it with flour. Set aside. Put the sugar, lemon zest, water, sunflower oil and egg yolks in a big bowl and beat it until frothy. The mixture will rise a lot, but that doesn't matter. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff. Sieve the flour, vanilla, coco and baking powder into the first bowl and mix carefully with a spatula until the batter is rather smooth. Add the cherries and mix. Lastly, fold in the egg whites. When the mixture is airy and smooth, transfer it to the cake tin and put it into the oven for 30-35 minutes. To check whether the cake is done, you should insert a skewer in the centre and if it comes out clean, then you're done! You could decorate the cake with a glaze, powdered sugar or fresh cherries on top, but as you can see I didn't have the patience to do so! Enjoy!