Make the cherry filling first so that it can chill while the cake is baking. Add the cherries and sugar to a medium saucepan and heat on medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Stir periodically.

Once the sugar has dissolved, bring the mixture to a low boil, then reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes until it's thickened. You may also want to take a wooden spoon or a potato masher and mash up the cherries once they begin to soften. You'll also want to stir the mixture periodically. If it feels like it's beginning to stick to the bottom of the pan, turn down the heat a bit.

After about 10 minutes, add the warm water and cornstarch to a small bowl or a shaker and mix it well until there are no clumps. Add the cornstarch mixture to the cherry mixture in the saucepan and stir while letting it simmer for another minute or until it thickens. This should happen quickly.

Remove the thickened cherry mixture, add the almond emulsion and stir. Pour the mixture into a bowl and let it cool down to almost room temperature, then cover it well with plastic wrap or place into an airtight container, then chill it in the fridge until the cake is ready to be assembled.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour two 8-inch round (2-inch deep) cake pans.

In a bowl, mix together the sour cream, milk, vanilla extract, almond emulsion and egg whites. Whisk until smooth and set aside.

In another larger mixing bowl, add the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Whisk well.

Slowly add the shortening and butter in chunks to the flour mixture while mixing on medium speed. Mix until the butter and shortening have coated the dry mixture and it has a sandlike texture.

Add half the liquid mixture and mix until well combined. Just mix until the large clumps are smooth.

Add the last half of the liquid mixture and mix only until well combined. Be very careful not to mix for very long.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then mix again, only for 10-15 seconds. Be very careful not to mix the cake batter long at this point, or it will cause the cake to sink in the middle or it will cause it to be dense, dry, rubbery, or sink in the middle.

Pour into the greased and floured cake pans and bake at 325 degrees F for 40-45 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of each cake layer should come out with a few moist crumbs on it or clean.

Remove the cake pans from the oven and set onto cooling racks for 10 minutes, then turn the cake layers out of the pans and cool completely on the cooling racks before assembling.

While the cake is baking, make the whipped buttercream. Add the butter to a large mixing bowl and mix with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.

Measure, then sift the confectioner's sugar and add to the butter, then add the vanilla, salt and only half of the heavy cream. Make sure the cream isn't super cold or it will firm up the butter too much while you're mixing.

Mix on medium speed until smooth and scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl.

Add the second half of the heavy cream and mix again, then scrape down the sides of the bowl.

Turn the mixer on high and whip for about 4-5 minutes until the buttercream is light and fluffy.

If using the ganache, make this early in the process as it will need to cool down for a while before using it. Add the white chocolate chips to a medium-sized bowl and set aside.

Add the cream to a small saucepan and heat on medium to medium-high until it begins to gently simmer. Do not let it boil and watch it closely so that it doesn’t scald. It helps to continuously stir it.

As soon as it looks like it’s about to boil, take the pan off the heat source and pour the hot cream over the white chocolate chips. Don’t stir it yet, just let it sit for about ten minutes and then stir it. Stir it slowly to keep bubbles from forming too much. Stir until it's smooth.

Set the bowl aside and let it cool until it’s drip consistency.

Make sure the cake is chilled or at room temperature. The cherry filling should be chilled, the whipped buttercream should be around room temperature and the ganache should be cooled down and drip consistency.

Level the tops of the cake layers so that they're flat. Use a knife or a cake leveler.

Add a layer of cake onto a cake plate. Next, add a layer of whipped buttercream.

Add ⅔ of the cherry filling. Try not to add the filling close to the edges of the cake layer so that it doesn't squish out. Keep it within the icing dam.

Add the last layer of cake, then cover the top and the entire sides of the cake with the remaining whipped buttercream.

Before adding the ganache, pop the cake into the fridge and let it chill and firm up for about 20-30 minutes or so.

Add the ganache drip to the top of the chilled cake and let it drip down the sides a bit.

Pop the cake back into the fridge to chill for another 20 minutes or so.

Lastly, add the remaining ⅓ of the cherry filling onto the top of the cake and feel free to pipe swirls around the top edge of the cake if desired and if you have buttercream left.