————————————CAKE———————————— 1 c Water
1 c Honey
1/2 c Applesauce
1 ts Vanilla
1 ts Vinegar
2 c Wholewheat pastry flour or
— unbleached white flour 3/4 c Cocoa powder
1 tb Baking powder
1 ts Baking soda
———————————–SYRUP———————————– 1/2 c Water
1/4 c Honey
2 ea Thin lemon or orange slices
1/3 c Kirsch
———————————–ICING———————————– 3/4 c Raw cashews
3/4 c Water
2 ts Vanilla
1/2 c Honey
10 oz Firm tofu
3 oz Semi-sweet chocolate, melted
16 oz Jar pitted cherries, drained
CAKE: Preheat oven to 350F. Combine liquid ingredients in a large bowl & whisk well. Sift dry ingredients together & whisk into liquid mixture. Pour into greased & floured 9″ cake tin & bake for 35 minutes or until springy. Cool cake completely & remove from pan. With a serrated knife, cut cake horizontally to make 3 thin layers. SYRUP: Combine first 3 ingredients in a small pot & boil for 3 minutes. Let cool & then add kirsch. ICING: In a blender, combine cashews, water & vanilla. Blend till smooth & creamy. Add honey & tofu & blend again. Set aside 2 c for the vanilla icing to go on top & sides of cake. To the rest of the mixture, add melted chocolate & 3 tb of syrup. Blend till smooth. Chill both icings before using. TO ASSEMBLE: Carefully remove the top two layers of cake. Brush some syrup onto bottom layer & spread half of chocolate icing over it. Place the middle cake layer on top & brush with syrup & icing. Put down a layer of cherries & dot with a little vanilla icing to help the top layer stick. Place the top layer on the cherries & brush again with syrup. Frost top & sides with vanilla icing. Decorate with cherries & pipe rosettes if desired. Chill several hours before serving. The cake can be kept covered if not being served till the following day. However, the frosting may discolour after about 3 days.