Pre-heat oven to 350F / 180C

Place cocoa powder in a wide bowl

Boil the water and add to the cocoa powder

Mix well without any lumps. You'll get a thick paste. If it's too thick, add a bit more hot water.

Add melted butter to this. I usually melt butter in the microwave using the 'defrost' option so that it doesn't get very hot. If the butter is hot, wait until it cools down before proceeding. Mix well after adding it to the cocoa paste.

Crack the egg in and whisk well to combine.

Next, added the brown sugar. I don't fully pack in a 1 cup since I like this to be a little less sweet. Add the full one cup for regularly sweetened brownies.

Mix well.

Now add the flour, vanilla, salt, and baking soda. Gently fold to combine well and make sure no streaks of flour remain. It's best to sift the flour into the bowl to avoid small lumps forming.

Finally, add the chopped cherries and fold in. Save some to add on top of the brownies before baking. The batter will be fairly thick.

Grease your baking pans with non-stick baking spray or a generous coating of butter and transfer the batter in. (I used two 6" loaf pans since that's an easy size to pack and gift. You can use one 8" pan too).

Flatten the top gently with your spatula to make sure it's even. Add the reserved cherries on top and push into the batter gently.

Bake in the pre-heated oven for 35-40 mins. If a toothpick comes out with crumbs when inserted into the centre, it's done.

Cool in the baking pans for 15 mins and gently invert onto cooling racks to cool completely before slicing.

Stays at room temperature up to 2 days and refrigerated up to 4 days.