CHOCOLATE CHERRY PANDORO
Here we’ve paired best-quality Maraschino cherries with divine dark chocolate, and of course lashings of cream. Throw this one together an hour or so before serving and drizzle with our wonderful chocolate sauce to finish.
Ingredients
1 x jar Luxardo cherries
2 Tbsp kirsch or brandy (optional)
350ml cream
200g dark chocolate, chopped
250g mascarpone
1 Loison pandoro
1-2 bottles Farro Chocolate Sauce
Fresh cherries, for garnishing
Method
Drain the cherries, taking care to reserve the syrup. Slice the cherries in half and set aside. Put the syrup into a jug with the kirsch or brandy, plus 2 tablespoons of water. Heat the cream to just below boiling and add the chocolate. Leave the mix to sit for a few minutes, then stir well to ensure there are no lumps. Cool slightly.
Place the mascarpone in a bowl, along with 3 tablespoons of the icing sugar from the pandoro box. Mix well, then add the chocolate mixture and stir until well combined and lightly thickened. Fold through the sliced cherries.
To serve, cut the pandoro horizontally 6 times to make 7 even slices. Smear a small dollop of chocolate mascarpone onto your serving platter to hold the pandoro in place. Place the bottom slice on the platter and dust it with a little icing sugar. Drizzle over some of the cherry syrup and top with a good dollop of the chocolate mascarpone.
Repeat the layering process with the remaining slices (from largest to smallest), then drizzle the entire stack with the chocolate sauce and top with fresh cherries to serve.