Merry Christmas! I hope you all had a good one! Of course, I spent most of it eating and drinking so the rest of my holiday will be spent drifting off on the sofa or trying to burn it all off at the gym. I’ll need an extra hour in the gym for this cake.

The title of this is misleading. Although this is described as a black forest traybake, the only cherries you’ll find in this are the glacé cherries scattered on top. Really, it’s chocolate cake with black forest themed adornments. But of course,  there’s nothing wrong with that.

1. Whisk the cocoa with 200ml / 7fl oz boiling water, whisk in the bicarbonate of soda and leave to cool for about 20 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and butter (or grease with a little extra vegetable oil) a traybake tin about 30cm x 23cm x 4cm deep (12in x 9in x 1½ in). There is no need to line it unless you are planning to turn out the cake whole.
3. Whisk together the eggs, sugar and oil in a large bowl, then fold in the flour, and then the cocoa solution. Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 30-40 minutes until risen and firm and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Run a knife around the edge of the cake and leave to cool.
4. To make the icing, break up the chocolate and gently melt it with the golden syrup and cream in a bowl set over a pan containing a little simmering water, whisking until glossy and smooth.
5. Drizzle the icing over the cake, scatter over the Toblerone slices and arrange the cherries here and there. Set aside to harden for a couple of hours before cutting into squares. They will keep well in an airtight container for several days