Delia

Chocolate-crunch Torte with Pistachios and Sour Cherries

This is the easiest chocolate recipe ever invented – I first made a more basic version on children's television. Since then it's got much more sophisticated, but the joy of its simplicity and the fact that no cooking is required make it a real winner for busy people.

Serves 12

This recipe is taken from How to Cook Book Two and The Delia Collection: Chocolate.

Chocolate-crunch Torte with Pistachios and Sour Cherries
Ingredients
 crème fraîche, whipped cream or pouring cream
 8 oz (225 g) dark chocolate (75 per cent cocoa solids), broken into pieces
 4 oz (110 g) unsalted pistachio nuts, roughly chopped
 2 oz (50 g) dried sour cherries
 2 oz (50 g) raisins
 3 tablespoons rum
 2 oz (50 g) butter
 5 fl oz (150 ml) double cream, lightly whipped
 8 oz (225 g) sweet oat biscuits, roughly chopped
To serve:
 a little cocoa powder, to dust
Equipment
You will also need an 8 inch (20cm) round loose-based cake tin, greased, with a non-stick base liner.

Method

Begin this the day before by soaking the dried cherries and raisins in the rum overnight. When you are ready to make the torte, place the broken-up chocolate and butter in a large heatproof bowl, which should be sitting over a saucepan of barely simmering water, making sure the bowl doesn't touch the water.

Then, keeping the heat at its lowest, allow the chocolate to melt – it should take about 6 minutes to become smooth and glossy. Now remove the bowl from the pan, give the chocolate a good stir and let it cool for 2-3 minutes.

Next, fold in the whipped cream, followed by the soaked fruits in rum, the pistachios and chopped biscuits, and give it all a good mix. Finally, spoon it into the cake tin as evenly as possible, cover with clingfilm and chill for a minimum of 4 hours. To serve, dust the surface with a little cocoa powder, cut the torte into wedges, then serve with crème fraîche, whipped cream or pouring cream.

 
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