Ingredients
225g caster sugar 
150g plain flour 
60g cocoa powder 
1 tsp baking powder 
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda 
2 eggs 
165ml milk 
85ml vegetable oil 
1 tsp vanilla extract 
165ml boiling water 

Cherry Sauce 
200g cherries, pitted or frozen 
100g sugar 
100ml water (if using frozen cherries use half this amount) 
1 lemon, juiced and slices of lemon peel 
1 tsp cornflour (optional) 

Mascarpone Cream 
250g mascarpone 
250ml double cream 
50g icing sugar (sifted) 
1 tsp vanilla 

Equipment Needed 
23cm cake tin (not springform ideally as this is a very thin batter - if you only have springform then make sure that you use only 1 piece of greaseproof, just spend some time flattening the paper against the cake tin so it is as smooth as you can get it) 

Method
Preheat the oven to 160c.  

For the cake, place all of the ingredients except the water, into a large stand mixer and mix until everything is smooth and thoroughly mixed through.  Scrape the bottom, set your mixer going again and add the boiling water slowly.  If you do not have a mixer then use a wooden spoon to mix everything together, again adding the water after everything else is thoroughly incorporated. 

Put the batter into the tin and bake in the oven for 25–35 minutes, or until the top is firm to the touch and a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.  Check after 25 minutes then 5 minutes after until the skewer is clean.  Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool completely in the tin. 

Meanwhile make the cherry sauce, by placing all the cherry sauce ingredients apart from the cornflour into a saucepan.  Bring to the boil over a medium heat.  Take the cornflour and 2 tbsps of the hot cherry juice and carefully mix together until smooth.  Pour into the cherries and stir.  Bring back to the boil, stirring constantly then reduce the heat and cook for another min or two until it is thick and syrupy.  If you are not using the cornflour then cook over a medium high heat for 5 - 10 minutes until syrupy.  Taste to see if it is sweet enough and if not, add 1 tbsp caster sugar.  Leave to cool. 

In a stand mixer, briefly mix your mascarpone until soft.  Add the other ingredients and mix until combined.  If you want your cream stiffish then do this very briefly as the weird thing about mascarpone is the more you mix the looser and wetter it becomes.  Refrigerate until needed. 

To assemble, carefully run a butter knife around the inside of the greaseproof to ensure nothing had stuck, then very carefully tip up and remove the cake from the tin.  Put on to a serving plate, top with the mascarpone and then with the cherries.