This Christmas in the Mono kitchen, my right hand woman Anne put forward a dessert based on the classic Black forest gateaux.
I know a lot of folk including myself maybe aren't partial to it as I always remember at the end of a really heavy four course Christmas dinner being presented with this massive frozen cake that I was forced to eat some of, even though all I really wanted was a bit of mint chocolate Vienetta.
The great thing about growing up and cooking for yourself is you can ditch the things you were forced to eat as a kid and modify the things you could have liked so they are actually delicious.
After a few runs in the kitchen we came up with a torte idea. It's much lighter and way more decadent than a slab of gateaux. The added booziness of the kirsch cream and the lovely sweetness of the dark cherry coulis really pull this together and make it one hella great Christmas or any other time dessert.
For the base
400g digestive biscuits (you can use wheat and gluten free biscuits to make it suitable for anyone with intolerances)
135g of melted soya margarine or sunflower margarine
2 teaspoon of cocoa powder
1 Blitz biscuits in processor. Mix in the cocoa and butter until evenly distributed.
2 Press into a greaseproof lined small (9") square tin
For the torte
250g decent quality dark chocolate
75g soya margarine or sunflower margarine
350ml soya cream
135g icing sugar
35ml kirsch
1 Melt the chocolate and butter together then add the kirsch.
2 In a separate bowl, whisk the cream until soft peaks form, and then add the sugar. Whisk all ingredients together.
For the Kirsch cream
1 225g tub of dairy free cream cheese.
150g of icing sugar
1 teaspoon of kirsch
1 Blend until smooth and runny, if its too thick you can add a touch more of kirsch.
For the cherry coullis
1 small tin of dark cherries
½ cup of castor sugar
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
1 Gently simmer for about 10 minutes till it becomes syrupy and let cool.
2 Now when you are plating this up make sure your torte and cherry coulis have been in the fridge for a while.
3 Your kirsch cream it can be served at room temperature so it pours well.
4 You can grate a little bit of dark chocolate to scatter round the desert and pop a mint leaf in to finish it off.
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