Monday, March 25, 2013

Any recipe with the word "drunken" in the title has got to be good...


Thanks to my sister-in-law (a great cook) for sharing...

Drunken Cherry Chocolate Torte
Yield: 12 serving slices
Triple layer Chocolate Torte topped with Drunken Cherries!
Ingredients
    For the Crust:
  • 1/2 cup dry roasted macadamia nut pieces
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt
  • For the Middle Layer:
  • 1/2 cup cold water
  • 1 envelope unflavored gelatin (1/4oz pkg)
  • 1/2 cup Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread)
  • 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
  • 1 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 Tbsp dark chocolate unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • For the Top Layer:
  • 6oz white chocolate (good quality), chopped
  • 1 1/2 cup heavy cream, divided
  • For the Drunken Cherries:
  • 1 bag (16oz) frozen pitted cherries
  • 1/2 cup Captain Morgan Spiced Rum, divided
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
Instructions
    For the Crust:
  1. Prepare a 9inch springform pan by buttering the bottom only. Set aside. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. In a food processor, pulse the nuts with granulated sugar until finely ground. Add flour and salt. Pulse in the butter, one tablespoon at a time, until a soft dough forms (crumbly). Press dough into bottom of pan. Poke with a fork all over. Bake for 18 minutes. Remove and cool completely.
  3. For the middle layer:
  4. Pour cold water into a cold saucepan. Sprinkle with entire packet of gelatin and allow to bloom (absorb the water) for about 2 minutes. Turn saucepan on low and whisk gelatin water for several minutes until completely dissolved. Remove from heat.
  5. In a mixing bowl, beat 5 Tbsp of gelatin mixture (save the remaining for the next layer) with Nutella and mascarpone cheese. Mix until completely smooth. Set aside.
  6. In a clean, dry, and cold mixing bowl (I spin a couple ice cubes in my bowl, then dry it out quickly with a paper towel), beat whipped cream with cocoa powder and granulated sugar on high. Whip until soft peaks form (several minutes). Fold in nutella mixture, combining gently until completely incorporated. Spread mixture over cooled crust.
  7. For the top layer:
  8. In a small saucepan, heat 1/2 cup of cream over low. Add 2 Tbsp of reserved gelatin mixture and heat on low until fully combined. Add white chocolate and whisk constantly until smooth and melted, about one minute. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally (about 5-10 minutes, mixture may thicken).
  9. In a clean, dry mixing bowl, beat remaining 1 cup of cream until it begins to thicken. Add sugar and beat until soft peaks form. Fold a scoop of the beaten cream into the white chocolate mixture, to allow the chocolate to lighten up. Then fold remaining whipped cream into white chocolate. Pour over nutella layer of torte.
  10. Refrigerate torte for 2-3 hours, until layers have set.
  11. For the cherry layer:
  12. This can be made a day ahead of time. Place frozen cherries into a large bowl. Pour 1/4 cup of rum over cherries and allow cherries to thaw at room temperature, completely.
  13. When thawed, drain juice from cherries by placing strainer over a separate bowl. You should have over 1 cup of cherry juice drained. Return cherries to a medium sized bowl in the refrigerator.
  14. Using 3/4 cup of the reserved cherry juice, add 1/4 cup more of rum. (for a total of 1 cup juice/rum mixture).
  15. In a small saucepan, whisk cherry and rum juice with 1 cup of granulated sugar. Heat over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and cool completely. When cooled, return cherries to syrup mixture and refrigerate until ready to serve (or serve immediately).
  16. To serve: Use a spatula to run across the inside of the springform pan to make sure chocolate layers don't stick. Remove from pan. Serve cake with cooled drunken cherry sauce. ENJOY!


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