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.

The Delia Online Cookery School: Fond of chocolate? Watch how to make more chocolate recipes in our video. Just press the recipe image to play.

This recipe is from Delia's Complete How to Cook. Serves 12. Scroll to the bottom of the page to see questions Lindsey has answered on this recipe

method
Ingredients

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.