Cocoa cake with quark cream and cherries in jelly

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1. Beat the egg with the sugar. Add the oil and sour cream and continue beating. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, cocoa powder, vanilla sugar, and baking powder. Gently fold the dry mixture into the wet mixture in small additions.

2. Grease a baking pan and pour in the batter, keeping it no more than 3 cm deep. Bake in a preheated oven at 190 °C (375 °F) for 20 minutes.

   For the filling, pour lukewarm water over the gelatin and let it bloom for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, blend the quark with the heavy whipping cream, then add the vanilla sugar and powdered sugar.

3. Dissolve the gelatin over a water bath, let it cool, and gently stir it into the filling. Remove the baked cake from the baking pan. Grease a cake pan or line it with plastic wrap, then pour some of the filling into the bottom.

4. Cut the cake into cubes and arrange them with the cherries over the first layer of filling. Pour the remaining filling over them.

5. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight. Then turn the cake out of the pan and serve.

6. Tip: Use fresh fruit instead of canned fruit, especially in summer.

Tip: Let the dissolved gelatin cool only until lukewarm, then stir it in immediately while it is still liquid. If it starts to set, it will leave rubbery bits in the filling.

This recipe was translated from the Slovak original: Kakaový koláč s tvarohovým krémom a čerešňami v želé