1) Make the batter. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and half of the sugar until thick and pale. Stir in the vanilla extract or the vanilla bean paste and set aside. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites with the remaining sugar.

2) Prepare the dry ingredients by sifting the flour, the cocoa powder and the salt into a clean bowl. Add the dry ingredients, in two batches, into the whisked egg yolks and mix gently, but until well incorporated. Next, add some of the whisked egg whites and mix in well. You don’t need to be gentle at this stage, as you’re adding only a little bit of the whites to lighten the mixture. Then, add the remaining egg whites, again in two batches, and fold them in gently to make sure that the batter stays nice and airy.

3) Pour the batter into a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Gently spread the batter to ease it into the corners. Bake in the preheated oven at 170C / 150C fan for about 10 minutes. To test if the cake is baked, insert a clean wooden skewer into the middle of the cake. If the skewer comes out clean, the cake is baked. If not, allow it additional couple of minutes and try again. Remove the cake from the oven and roll it into a roll together with the parchment paper. Set aside.

4) In a saucepan, boil 250ml of the juice from the cherry compote, add the Kirsch liqueur/ or rum, the sugar and bring to a boil. Finally, stir in the cornstarch and let the mixture to thicken, then stir in the pitted cherries and remove from the heat.  Cool the mixture down, then put it in the fridge for at least an hour.

5) Whip the cream with the sugar and the Kirsch  liqueur/ rum.

6) Unwrap the cake roll and spread the whipped cream on it. Next, spread the cherry mixture and roll it back up, but leave out the parchment paper.

7) Make the chocolate fudge sauce. Bring the whipping cream to a gentle simmer, add the chocolate and whilst stirring constantly, let the chocolate melt down and combine with    the cream. Cool the chocolate mixture down, then lightly whip it with a whisk. The whole process takes about 15 minutes. Spread it onto the cake roll. Finally, decorate the cake with  the chocolate shards. You can place the finished log into the fridge for a while or can cut it into portions and serve. Enjoy!