Chocolate-cherry Upside-down Cake

* Melt chocolate in top of a souble boiler over simmering water.

Preheat oven to 350 F. Carefully pit the black cherries, leaving them
as close to whole as possible. This is painstaking. In a saucepan put
the uncooked cherries, add a few Tbs of water, and simmer for a few
mins until the cherries are a little soft, but retain their shape.
Remove from heat. Place 6 Tbs of the butter in a heavy 9-inch skillet
(preferbly of black iron), add 1/4 cup of the brown sugar, and set on
low heat until butter and brown sugar are melted. Blend and spread
evenly over the skillet and remove from heat. Carefully place the
pitted cherries (fresh or canned) close together in the butter-sugar,
with the uncut side down, because that is the side that will show
when the cake is served. Reserve the cherry juice. Cream together the
remaining butter, remaining brown sugar, and the granulated sugar
until very light. Add the egg yolk and melted chocolate, and mix
thoroughly. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and
cinnamon, and add to the butter-sugar mixture alternating with the
milk. Add the vanilla and mix thoroughly. Fold in stiffly beaten egg
white. Carefully spoon the cake batter into the skillet so as not to
disturb the cherries. Bake for 45 mins. When the cake is springy to
the touch, remove it from the oven, loosen the sides from the edge of
the skillet if necessary, and let the cake stand for 10 mins. Place
the cake serving plate upside down over the skillet, hold the handle
with one hand, the cake plate with the other, and flip the whole
thing upside down. Leave the inverted skillet on the cake plate for
10 mins, then slowly lift it off. Let the cake cool. Whip the cream
until thick, adding a tsp of reserved cherry juice every few seconds
to give a rich flavor and a bright pink color. Spoon the whipped
cream thickly around the edge of the top of the cake, leaving most of
the cherries exposed. Cut with a sharp knife. Yield: 8 servings.