Chocolate & Cherries

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Serves 4

Chocolate Crumb90g plain flour60g caster sugar10g cocoa powder30g unsalted butterChocolate Fondant160g x 64% dark chocolate25g unsalted Butter25g caster Sugar100g egg whites10g pasta flourCherry Panna cotta

70ml double cream 70ml whole milk 60ml cherry puree40g caster sugar2.2g Gold leaf gelatine12 x cherries, halved with stones removed

Cherry Tuille180g Fondant80g Glucose80g White chocolate200g Freeze dried cherries

Cherry discs Macerated 10 fresh cherries (sliced either side of the stone) 100g Caster Sugar100ml Water

Cherryade 200g Morello Cherry Puree 100ml water40g caster sugar

Cherry Gel 50ml Water100g Morello Cherry Puree1g Agar

Chocolate Crumb1) Mix flour, sugar, butter and cocoa powder in a bowl to make a crumble2) Cook in the oven at 90c till dry and crumbly (15-20 minutes)

Chocolate Fondant1) Melt the chocolate and butter in a bain marie2) Mix the sugar and 50g egg whites in a Thermomix on speed 5 for 2 minutes3) Slowly add the reamining egg whites to the sugar and egg mixture and mix well on

speed 5 for 2 minutes4) Add the chocolate and butter mix to the egg and sugar mixture and mix well in the

Thermomix at speed 5 for 2 minutes5) Add the pasta flour and mix well in the Thermomix at speed 5 for 2 minutes6) Put the mixture into a piping bag and pipe into 5cm metal rings lined with

greaseproof paper

Cherry Panna cotta 1) Put the cream, milk, sugar and cherry puree in a pan and bring to the boil2) Soak the gelatine in 200ml cold water until soft (about 5 minutes) 3) Add to the cream mixture and mix well

4) Pass the mixture through a fine sieve into a mixing bowl and allow it to set in the fridge for 1 hour

5) When set use this to fill the cherry halves.

Cherry Tuile1) Heat fondant and glucose in a pan to 155c2) Remove from heat and quickly stir in white chocolate as soon as it reaches 155c3) Pour onto a non-stick baking mat and leave to cool for 10 minutes4) Blitz to a fine powder in a Thermomix at full speed for 1 minute5) Sieve onto a non-stick baking mat and shape6) Bake in the oven for 3-4 minutes at 200c7) Finish by blitzing the freeze dried cherries in a Thermomix at speed 10 for 10

seconds, until they make a powder8) Sieve the powder over the tuiles

Cherry discs Macerated 1) Boil the sugar and water together2) Add the cherry discs3) Leave to cool in the syrup

Cherryade 1) Heat sugar and water2) Mix with the cherry puree3) Remove from heat and cool to 5c4) Transfer to an espuma gun and charge with 2 N20 chargers (fizzy)5) Serve in a shot glass

Cherry Gel 1) Heat water and puree2) When simmering, whisk in the agar and reboil3) Chill in the blast chiller for 20 minutes 4) When set, blitz until nice and shiny5) Transfer to a piping bag6) Pipe dots of gel on the plate

Plating up1) Put the chocolate fondant in the oven for 5 minutes at 200c2) While the fondant is cooking decorate the plate3) Do a diagonal line of chocolate crumb4) Add blobs of cherry gel randomly on the line5) Place the macerated cherries randomly on the plate6) Add the cherries filled with panacotta to the plate randomly7) Add the cherry tuilles to the plate8) When the chocolate fondant is cooked place in the middle of the line of chocolate

crumb9) Finish by filling a shot glass with cherryade