Death by Cherry Tart
By OcadoLife
Published on 16 September 2025
“Our Death by Cherry Tart’s got drama,” say Maria Georgiou and Rhiannon Butler – aka supper club hosts Mam Sham. “Glossy cherries, silky chocolate and a bourbon biscuit base that means business. One slice turns into three – you’ve been warned.” Allow extra time for chilling and cooling. Leftovers (if there are any) can be mashed up and kept in the freezer, for scattering over your favourite chocolate or vanilla ice cream.Time and servings
30 minsTotal time
10Servings
15 minsPrep time
15 minsCooking time
Ingredients
- 200g bourbon biscuits
- 1 tbsp black sesame seeds (optional)
- 90g unsalted butter, melted
- 1 (850g) tin pitted black cherries, drained, syrup reserved
- 1 cinnamon stick
- ½ lemon, juiced
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
- 1½ tbsp cornflour
- 2 tbsp amaretto or ½ tsp almond extract
- 100g dark chocolate
- 100g double cream
Method
Step 1
Blitz the biscuits and sesame seeds (if using) to crumbs in a food processor. Mix in the melted butter until sandy.Step 2
Press the mix into a tart tin (we used 21 cm), pushing it up the sides. Chill for 1 hr.Step 3
Roughly chop two-thirds of the cherries. Put them all (including the whole ones) in a pan with 3 tbsp of the reserved syrup, the cinnamon stick, lemon juice and sugar. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat and cook for 10 mins.Step 4
Mix the cornflour with 3 tbsp more of the reserved syrup to form a thin paste. Stir into the cherries, along with the amaretto or almond extract, and cook for 2 mins more or until thickened and glossy. Remove from the heat; leave to cool.Step 5
Pour the cooled cherry mixture into the tart base; level and smooth out the surface with the back of a spoon.Step 6
For the ganache, break the chocolate into a heatproof bowl. Heat the cream in a pan until steaming, then pour over the chocolate; leave for 2 mins. Add a pinch of salt; stir until smooth. Cool slightly.Step 7
To decorate the tart, drizzle over the ganache in a zig-zag pattern. Leave to set for 30 mins, then serve.