I’m back for another Bake Off bake along and this week it’s chocolate week! The bakers had to make a flourless chocolate torte so that’s what I’ve made! Chocolate cherry is one of my favourite combinations but this torte also works great with fresh raspberries and amaretto instead of the cherry brandy. This recipe is adapted from a BBC good food recipe, I’ve changed the method slightly to give a lighter texture.

You can do this in any shape you like but I fancied something a bit fun so I made one 8 inch layer into this little semi circle with some fancy piping and edible flowers from my garden. However, if you’re after something a bit more simple, you can skip the ganache all together and decorate with just the whipped mascarpone, some dollops of cherry jam and boozy cherries!

Ingredients

Flourless Chocolate Torte

4 large eggs

60g caster sugar

100g dark chocolate

60g butter

1tbsp brandy

60g ground almonds

Chocolate Ganache

250g double cream

100g milk chocolate

150g dark chocolate

50g cherry brandy

Whipped Mascarpone Filling

100g double cream

100g mascarpone

20g icing sugar

20g cherry brandy

Boozy Cherries

About 10 cherries

1tbsp caster sugar

Squeeze of lemon

20ml cherry brandy

To Decorate

Fresh fruit

Cherry jam

Edible flowers

Small star piping nozzle

To start, make the ganache. Boil the cream, pour over the chocolate and whisk until combined, add the cherry brandy, stir until combined. cover with cling film to prevent a skin forming and leave to set at room temperature.

Next onto the torte, preheat the oven to 170°C and grease and line and 8 inch cake tin. Whisk the eggs and sugar together over a pan of boiling water the same way that you would for a genoise. When the sugar is dissolved and the egg mixture is warm (40°C-50°C) transfer to a stand mixture and whisk on high for at least 5 minutes until the mixture has doubled in size and is pale and fluffy. Once it reaches this stage, turn the mixer to a medium-low speed and continue to whisk for another 5 minutes, this bursts the larger air bubbles and makes your mix more stable, resulting in a lighter cake!

While the eggs are going gently melt the butter and chocolate together in the microwave or over a bain marie. Once the eggs are ready fold 1/3 of the egg mixture into the chocolate and butter mixture, when fully incorporated, add the remaining 2/3 and gently fold together. When almost combined shower in the ground almonds and continue to fold until all the almonds are incorporated and there are no streaks of chocolate. Transfer to the tin and bake for 35-45 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.

Next make the boozy cherries, simply pit the cherries, add them to a pan with the sugar and lemon juice and cook for about 3 minutes until tender, pour over the cherry brandy and leave to cool.

Once everything is cool and your ganache is the perfect spreadable consistency it’s time to assemble.

Make the whipped mascarpone filling by whipping all of the ingredients together until stiff peaks form and you have a thick, whipped cream consistency. Then, cut your cake in half, I use a ruler to measure the halfway line so that my halves are even.

Use the juice from the boozy cherries to soak the torte, then spread an even layer of whipped mascarpone (if you have a bit extra, just save it to serve with the torte), followed by some cherry jam (optional) and the boozy cherries.

Add the top layer on and cover with ganache, leave to chill. One chilled flip the cake so it’s standing upright in a semi circle and cover the remaining side with ganache. Use a small star tip to pipe around the edges and decorate with fresh fruit and edible flowers!

Black Forest Semi Circle Torte

Crème Caramel With Poached Quince