Cherries, Seasonal Ingredient for June

Cherry season in the UK is short but one worth looking out for. This recipe is great to match with dark chocolate and hazelnuts for some indulgence. If you have a bumper crop of cherries, why not freeze them or infuse them into some alcohol as suggested below and use this recipe to savour the season at any time!

Dark Chocolate Mousse, British Cherries and Dark Chocolate and Hazelnut Crumble

Ingredients

Makes 6 portions

• Dark Chocolate 70% 415g

• Double Cream 525g

• Free Range British Eggs 3

• Honey 90g

• Cherries 600g

• Caster Sugar 100g

• Hazelnuts Whole 75g

• Bran Flakes 100g

Method

Chocolate and Honey Mousse

• Place eggs and honey into mixer and whip for 10 minutes or until pale and tripled in volume

• Melt 340g chocolate in a bowl set over some lightly simmering water. Once melted add the warm chocolate to the egg and fold in with a spatula or whisk lightly, allow to cool to room temperature

• Whilst the chocolate and egg mix is cooling, lightly whisk the double cream until half whipped. Always keep as cold as possible. This will help to prevent over whisking

• Fold the cream into the egg and chocolate mix and add to fill the moulds or glasses, allow firstly to set fully in the fridge. Is using moulds dip in a little warm water to allow the mousse to slip out easily

Cherries

• Remove the stones from the cherries with an olive pitter or simply slice in half and remove by hand

• Combine the caster sugar with 100g of water and gently simmer

• Add the ripe cherries to infuse and soften slightly off the heat. You can add some cherry liquor or alcohol of your choice or even the seeds from a vanilla pod for an indulgent twist!

• You can turn some of this into a puree or coulis simply by blending 50% of the poached cherry mix and use the rest to garnish the final dish. You can also add this to the middle of the mousse or layer in a glass for that amazing cherry flavour with every mouthful

Chocolate and Hazelnut Crumble

• Roast hazelnuts in 200ᵒc oven for 8-10 minutes until golden and skins blister, whilst still hot remove skins and dispose of them, roughly chop the roasted hazelnuts

• Melt remaining dark chocolate and add to bran flakes, along with chopped hazelnuts. Coat and combine and allow to set. Break up roughly to achieve a crumble texture

Accompaniment Suggestion

If you do have lots of spare cherries, why not infuse some vodka to have alongside your dessert!

This recipe can be found on our banqueting menu. Please contact us for more information if you’re looking to hold an event.

Benefits of Cherries:

• All varieties are highly nutritious and packed with fibre, vitamins, and minerals

• They are rich with antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds

• Increasing your intake of nutrient-dense fruits like cherries is a tasty way to protect your heart