For The Cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare two 8 inch cake pans by wiping a thin layer of vegan butter on the bottom and sides of each. Dust the butter with cocoa powder (or flour but cocoa powder will not show on the baked cakes like flour will). Finally, line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper to be extra safe.
2. Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Make sure you spoon your flour into your measuring cups! If you scoop the flour you will be using more than you need and the cake will turn out more dry. I sift my cane sugar and cocoa powder to ensure there are no large clumps that end up in the batter. With all the dry ingredients added, stir everything together until evenly combined. 
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the wet ingredients until fully combined.
4. Make a well in the dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients and stir together until fully combined. Make sure to scrape all the way to the bottom and around the sides to make sure there are no pockets of dry ingredients that haven’t been incorporated.
5. Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake tins and bake for 28-30 minutes or until fragrant, the cake is dry on top, the sides have pulled away from the tin, and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
6. Allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely before attempting to layer and frost the cake.

For The Cherry Filling:

1. Reserving the syrupy liquid in the can or jar, drain the cherries. Add the drained cherries, ¼ cup of the reserved cherry juice and the cane sugar to a small pot over medium low heat. Bring the mixture to a low simmer.
2. In the meantime, mix the cornstarch in a small bowl with a bit more reserved cherry juice or water. Make a slurry by using just enough liquid to dissolve the starch and make a pourable mixture.
3. When the cherry mixture has come to a very low simmer, add the cornstarch slurry and stir immediately. The liquid should quite quickly turn into a thick sauce.
4. Stir in the vanilla extract and when the sauce has thickened to your liking, remove the cherry filling from the heat and allow to fully cool. *You can make this a day or two in advance of putting the cake together.

For The Whipped Cream Frosting:

*A 19oz can of coconut cream works best for this frosting but you can also use two cans of full fat coconut milk. With either coconut cream or coconut milk, make sure that you place the can(s) in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours prior to making the frosting. When refrigerated, the full fat coconut cream will rise to the top of the can and harden. That hardened cream is what you will use in this recipe.

1. For best results, place the bowl and whisk attachment of your mixer in the freezer for at least 30 minutes before making this whipped cream. If everything is really cold the cream will whip up better.
2. When ready, remove your coconut cream from the fridge being careful to not tip or shake the can. Open the can and scoop out just the hardened cream from the top. There will be coconut water at the bottom of the can that you can reserve for another recipe (I toss it in a smoothie or oatmeal the next morning).
3. Using the whisk attachment for your stand mixer, whisk the cream on medium high until it starts to fluff up, about 1 minute.
4. Add the icing sugar and vanilla and continue to whisk for 2-3 more minutes until the sugar is fully incorporated and the whipped cream is fluffy. (If you are having trouble whipping the cream, see the notes below this recipe).
5. Either frost the cake right away or refrigerate the whipped cream until you are ready to use it on the cake. If it has hardened too much in the fridge, leave it on the counter for a few minutes until it softens enough that you can spread it.

To Assemble The Cake:

*Sometimes cake layers dome a little on the top. If your layers have domed, you can slice a bit off the top to even the cake layers out and prevent the cherry filling from sliding.

*If you have reserved cherry juice leftover you can brush some into the cake layers for extra cherry flavour if desired.

1. Place the first layer of cake on a tray. Spread whipped cream frosting across the top of the cake layer making sure to push it all the way to the edges. If you will keep the sides of the cake bare, use half the frosting for this layer and half for the top. Make sure to reserve a bit of frosting for the sides if you want to cover those. (See photos in blog post for reference).
2. Carefully spoon half the cherry filling on top of the whipped cream.
3. Lay the second cake layer on top (if you cut the top of the cake to level it, place the cut side down to avoid any crumbs in your frosting).
4. Spread whipped cream frosting on the top of the cake, spoon the remaining cherries on the very top, and finish decorating as desired. Spread any excess whipped cream on the sides of the cake, add some shaved chocolate on top or leave your cake creation as is!
5. Refrigerate the cake until ready to serve. Leftovers keep well in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can also freeze leftover slices if need be.