Chocolate Sponge Cake:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 C). Take 4 eggs, separate yolks and whites, and let them come to room temperature. Line a jelly roll pan (10.5" x 15.5") with parchment paper. Do not grease the pan or the parchment paper. Prepare hot coffee (however you would for drinking), and mix 1/2 cup of hot coffee with 1/4 cup of unsweetened natural cocoa powder. Mix well and let it cool.

In a large bowl, add in 1 cup of cake flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/3 cup granulated sugar, and 1/2 tsp table salt. Sift them together. Add in the egg yolks, 1/3 cup of vegetable or canola oil, 1 tsp vanilla extract, as well as coffee/chocolate mixture. Beat with an electric mixer or by hand just until smooth and well blended.

In the bowl of your stand mixer, add in the 4 room temperature egg whites and 1/2 tsp cream of tartar on high speed until frothy. Gradually add in 1/3 cups granulated sugar and beat until glossy stiff peaks are formed. Gradually and very gently fold in this meringue into the cake mixture until very well combined. Pour this into the prepared jelly roll pan, and smooth the top with the spatula.

Bake at 350 F (175 C) for 15 to 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, and the top surface springs back when gently pressed. Dust the cake with some confectioner's sugar to prevent sticking. Place a rectangular piece of parchment paper that's bigger than the cake on top, and invert the cake onto the parchment paper and slowly remove the baking pan so that parchment paper is on top. Then slowly peel off the parchment paper the cake was baked with.

Cut a 1" thick strip of cake off from the long 15.5 side, and a 2" wide strip of cake off from the short 10.5-inch sides. Set these strips of chocolate cake aside.

While the cake is still warm, dust additional confectioner's sugar onto this side of the cake (to prevent cake from sticking), and roll the cake with the parchment paper along the short 10.5-inch side, place with the seam side down so it doesn't unroll, and let it cool to room temperature on a wire rack.

Cherry Filling / Syrup:

Prep 8 oz (about 2 cups) of pitted Bing cherries (fresh or frozen). If you're using frozen cherries, let them thaw completely, and pat them dry with paper towels to remove any excess moisture.

Roughly chop the cherries and put them in a small bowl. Add in 2 tbsp of kirsch (alcohol sub: apple brandy or cherry vodka / non-alcohol sub: water). Let it sit at room temperature for 30 minutes, stirring a couple of times.

Drain the cherries in a sieve over a bowl. Keep the chopped cherries and the resulting cherry syrup separately. You should end up with about 1/3 cup of cherry syrup total.

Kirsch Cream Frosting:

Add 4 cups of very cold heavy cream and mix with whisk attachment on high speed until slightly thickened.

Add 1 cup of powdered sugar, 1 tbsp cornstarch, and 1 tbsp of kirsch (alcohol sub: apple brandy or cherry vodka / non-alcohol sub: vanilla extract) and continue beating on high speed until stiff peaks form. Put in the fridge until ready to use.

Assembling Cake:

When it's cooled to room temperature and the cherry filling / syrup and frosting are ready, unroll the cake.

Spread the frosting on the cake (about 1/4" thick), and sprinkle the chopped cherries evenly over the frosting.

Slowly roll the cake up again, the same direction it was rolled before but this time without the parchment paper rolled into it.

Transfer the roll to your serving dish, with the seam-side down, so it doesn't unroll. When the cake is now rolled up and on the serving dish, brush the outer surfaces and sides of the cake with the cherry syrup.

Cover the surfaces of the cake with a thin layer of frosting, about 1/4 inches thick. Remember to leave some frosting to make rosettes at the top of the cake at the end. Rest the cake in the fridge for 1 hour for the frosting to firm up a bit.

While the cake roll is resting in the fridge for the frosting to harden, put the strips of chocolate cake that we cut earlier into a food processor. And pulse until you get fine chocolate crumbs.

Place a large rectangle of wax paper or parchment paper on your counter to catch crumbs. Take the cake roll out of the fridge, and press the chocolate crumbles evenly on top and on the sides, all over the cake roll to cover the frosting as much as possible. I like to leave a white strip on top where the rosettes will go, so the rosettes stick to the cake better.

Transfer about 2 cups of the leftover frosting into a pastry bag with an open-star tip and pipe about 6 big rosettes on top of the roll. I like to remove the stems from the maraschino cherries. Place a maraschino cherry over each rosette.

Refrigerate cake for a minimum of 6 hours but preferably overnight before serving, in order for the flavors to come together. Serve chilled. Enjoy!