serves
8–10
prep
20 minutes
cook
30 minutes
difficulty
Easy
serves
8–10
people
preparation
20
minutes
cooking
30
minutes
difficulty
Easy
level
Ingredients
- 500 ml pouring cream
- 20 ml lemon juice
Torta
- 200 g 70 % dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces
- 125 g butter
- 100 g caster sugar
- 100 ml water
- 500 g cherries, pitted
- 4 whole eggs
- cocoa powder, for dusting
Resting time 2 days
Instructions
Mascarpone
Place the cream into a saucepan, making sure you use one with plenty of extra space to allow the cream room to come up as it boils without overflowing.
Put the saucepan on a medium heat and until the cream reaches a boil. Once boiled, add the lemon juice and give it a little stir.
Pour out the cream mix into a container and allow it to cool before placing the container, covered, in your fridge and letting it sit overnight.
The next day, line a colander with muslin and place over another mixing bowl. You need something large enough to catch the liquid. Your cream mix will look a little thick but will still be quite liquidy, pour all of this into your muslin lined colander. Wrap any muslin overhang back over the top, place a plate on top, and discard any initial liquid that’s come through into the bowl. Wrap up your straining contraption with glad wrap and put it back into the fridge to rest another night.
The next day you should be left with some lovely soft only slightly sour creamy mascarpone. Any extra not eaten with the torta will keep for at least a week.
Torta
Place the chocolate and the butter into a heatproof bowl and rest over a saucepan with simmering water to melt.
In a separate saucepan bring the water and the sugar to the boil, add the cherries and simmer for a few minutes so they have time to soften a little.
Pour the sugar and cherry mix into the chocolate bowl and stir to combine.
In a separate bowl, lightly whisk the eggs together until just combined before adding them too to the chocolate mix.
Line a 26 cm tart shell with baking paper and pour the mix into it, spreading it out evenly so it’s smooth on the top. You’ll find that you have quite a slim torta.
Bake in an oven at 170°C for 20–25 minutes. Pull out and you’ll notice the torta has a little movement in it but is mostly set. Allow to cool on a rack.
To serve, take the torta out of the tart shell, dust generously with some cocoa powder and place on a large platter. Serve with mascarpone.
Photographs by Benito Martin. Styling by Jerrie-Joy Redman-Lloyd.
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
