Chocolate-Cherry Kirsch Hearts
By The Vegetarian Society
Published on 27 March 2023
An irresistible combination of chocolate and alcohol - what is not to like?Time and servings
40 minsTotal time
4Servings
40 minsPrep time
Ingredients
- 350 g of good quality plain chocolate, 150g for the sauce, 200g for the loaf
- 75 g of hazelnuts, 25g roasted and chopped for the topping, 50g roughly chopped for the loaf
- 350 g of black cherries, tinned
- 4 tbsp of kirsch liqueur
- 1 tsp of almond essence
- 200 g of vegan oat biscuits
- 175 g of creamed coconut, grated
- 100 g of vegan margarine
Method
Step 1
Use a medium heart shaped cutter (about 3-4 inches across) to draw 6 heart shapes on a piece of baking parchment. Place these on a tray or baking sheet. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over simmering water. Spoon into a piping bag and outline the hearts on the baking parchment, then fill in with extra melted chocolate. Sprinkle chopped roasted hazelnuts over two of them and place the tray in the fridge to harden.Step 2
Lightly oil a 1lb loaf tin with baking parchment. Drain the cherries retaining the juice, and reserving 1 tbsp of cherries. Put the remaining cherries in a bowl and pour over the kirsch liqueur and almond essence. Leave to marinade for 2 hours.Step 3
Melt the chocolate, creamed coconut and vegan margarine together over a gentle heat. Roughly crush the oatmeal digestive biscuits and stir into the melted mixture with the hazelnuts. Add the marinated cherries and any remaining liquid. Pour the mixture into the prepared laof tin and lightly smooth the top. Cover and chill for 2 hours.Step 4
Turn out and cut 4 slices, each 1 cm thick. Use the vutter to cut out a heart from each. Place a plain chocolate heart on a serving plate. Top with a chocolate and cherry loaf heart, repeat then top with a nutty chocolate heart. Use the remaining hearts to make a second stack. Chill until ready to serve. Chop the reserved cherries and mix with a little of the reserved juice (sweetend with a little icing sugar if required). Drizzle onto the plates around the hearts just before serving.