Step 1: Turn the oven on to 180°C (160°F fan) or Gas 4. Grease two 23cm/9in cake tins lightly, then line the bottom with non-stick baking parchment that has been greased.

Step 2: In a mixing bowl, crack the eggs, add the sugar, and whisk until the mixture becomes pale and thick enough to pull away from the sides of the bowl with the whisk lifted out.  Add the chocolate powder and sifted flour and fold gently. Spoon mixture into ready-made tins.

Step 3: The sponges should be well risen and starting to pull away from the sides of the pan after 25 to 30 minutes of baking. After transferring to a wire rack to cool, remove the parchment paper.

Step 4: Drain the cherry jars, saving the juice, for the filling. Roughly chop the cherries into quarters. Spoon the cornflour into a small saucepan, mix in a little bit of the liquid that was set aside, and then stir in the rest of the juice.

Step 5: Melt the white and plain chocolates in two different bowls over two pots of gently simmering water for the decorating. On a sheet of nonstick baking paper, dip 12 fresh cherries into the plain chocolate and put aside to harden.

Step 6: On a sheet of paper, draw a rectangle the size of a credit card, then arrange it vertically. Using the rectangle as a template, sketch a tree. Cover the template with a piece of non-stick parchment paper.

Step 7: Pipe 12 chocolate tree shapes onto the nonstick parchment, with a few more in case they shatter. Let it solidify and solidify.

Step 8: After the chocolate has hardened, cut off the tip of the white chocolate piping bag and drizzle a thin layer of white chocolate over the cherries that have been dipped in plain chocolate.

Step 9: Cream should be whipped to delicate peaks. Split the cream in half, reserving one half for the cake’s sides and top. Cut each sponge with a long, sharp knife into two layers.

Step 10: Cover the cake with the chocolate trees after spreading half of the reserved whipped cream around the edges. Pipe cream rosettes around the top edge of the cake using the remaining saved cream, then top with chocolate-dipped cherries for decoration.