Fluffy Cherry Cake | Pandispan cu Cirese

This dessert is delicious, light, and easy to make. My favorite part is the fluffiness - you can really feel how each bite simply melts in your mouth. Additionally, the cake does not need much sugar - it provides a plethora of sweet fruity delights instead. And while cherries (or even better: sour cherries) are the fruit of choice for this recipe in Romania, you will find that any other seasonal fruits work equally well.

Ingredients:
 - Four eggs
 - 1 cup of flour
 - 1/2 cup of sugar
 - 1/2 cup of sparkling water
 - A pinch of salt
 - One cup of fresh fruits
 - One spoon of vanilla
 - One spoon of lemon peel
 - A bit of butter or oil
 - For presentation: powder sugar, a few extra fresh fruits

Preparation:
 - Preheat the oven to 325F.
 - If you're using cherries (or other seeded fruits), carefully remove their seeds.
 - Carefully separate the egg yolks from the whites. We'll thoroughly whip the them in two separate bowls. I recommend you use a mixer, unless you're in the mood for a serious workout.
 - Start by whipping the whites for about 5-10 minutes (they turn into a foam). Continue whipping to incorporate half of the sugar.
 - Next, we'll whip the yolks for about 5-10 minutes. Add the rest of the sugar slowly and gradually, then the lemon peel, vanilla, the sparkling water, and a pinch of salt. Continue whipping for another 15-20 minutes. The end result has a lot of volume due to small air bubbles mixed in the composition - these will make the whole dessert fluffy.
 - We need to gently combine the whipped whites, yolks, and two-thirds of the flour (we'll need a third for the next steps). The key word here is gently - we need to preserve the airiness of the composition. Start by putting the whites and yolks in the same bowl, and mix slowly from the bottom to the top with a wooden spatula. Use a sifter to gradually add the flour, and keep slowly mixing the composition from the bottom to the top. We're actually not even mixing the flour in - we're gently incorporating it by allowing the flour powder to stick to the surface and then turning the mixture over.
 - For baking, choose a pan wide enough to accommodate the composition while not spreading it too thin (I use a 9x9x2 inches pan). Coat it with a thin layer of butter or oil, then a thin layer of flour (use the sifter again). Remove any extra flour. This allow the cake to nicely separate from the pan.
 - Use the sifter to cover the cherries (or whatever fruits you use) with a thin layer of flour. Mix to uniformly cover all sides of the fruits. This will help some of the fruits to not sink to the bottom of the cake.
 - Place the mixture in the coated pan. Gently add the flour-covered fruits on top. Bake for 45 minutes.
 - Remove from the oven and let cool.

Presentation:
 - Make sure the dessert is cold before you cut it. To be sure, let it sit overnight.
 - Before serving, sift some extra powder sugar on top.
 - A few fresh fruits can be used to accompany the dessert and add some color and contrast - a "before and after" presentation.