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.

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  Serves 12

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

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Equipment
You will also need a loose-based cake tin with a diameter of 8 inches (20 cm), 1½ inches (4 cm) deep, lightly greased with a flavourless oil.

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

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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