Preheat oven to 400F.

Grease a 9" springform cake pan.

In a mixing bowl, blend the sugar, vanilla sugar, and butter or margarine.

Add in the flour, cocoa powder, and baking powder and stir until well incorporated.

Press into the springform pan to create a cookie disc.

Bake for 15 minutes; remove from oven and let cool.

Set oven to 375F.

Grease a 9-inch springform cake pan.

In a medium bowl, beat the egg yolks, warm water, sugar, and vanilla sugar until the mixture is thick and light yellow. Set aside.

In a small bowl, sift together the flour, corn starch, cocoa powder, and baking powder.

Alternating with the egg whites, gently fold the flour mixture into the egg yolk mixture until well combined.

Spread evenly in the prepared cake pan.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Let cool. Once cool, remove cake from pan and slice horizontally to create two cake layers.

Stir the cherries with the rum, and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the heavy cream, sugar, vanilla sugar, and whipped cream stabilizer until stiff peaks form. Stir in 2 Tbsp of the cherry rum soaking liquid. Set aside.

Place a small dollop of cream on your cake platter to prevent the cake from sliding around.

Place the biscuit bottom on the cake platter. sprinkle half the cherries over the biscuit bottom, then spread about 1/4 of the whipped cream over the cherries. Top with one of the sponge cake layers.

Sprinkle about 2 Tbsp of the cherry rum soaking liquid over the sponge cake layer. Top with the remaining cherries, then spread about 1/4 of the whipped cream over the cherries. Top with the second sponge cake layer.

With the remaining whipped cream, frost the top and sides of the cake. You can decorate the cake with chocolate shavings or chocolate chips, which is what I did.

Let sit in the fridge for about 30 minutes before slicing and serving.