This recipe took a few attempts to get right, but I knew I was finally there when I found myself having to post the results to friends to stop me standing and eating it straight from the fridge. It is very rich thanks to the industrial quantities of white chocolate, so I recommend cutting this into bite sized pieces.
Ingredients
For the base
- White Chocolate 500 g, broken into small pieces
- Stem Ginger Syrup (from the jar) 90 g
- Unsalted Butter 120 g, cubed
- Fine Sea Salt ¾ tsp
- Ginger Biscuits (cookies) 300 g
- Stem Ginger 180 g, finely chopped
- Freeze-Dried Sour Cherries 25 g
For the topping
- White Chocolate 500 g, broken into small pieces
- Freeze-Dried Sour Cherries a small handful
- Line the base and sides of a 9 x 13 inch tin with baking parchment.
- To make the base, bring a pan of water to a gentle simmer, then remove from the heat and set a snug-fitting heatproof bowl over the top, ensuring that the water in the pan doesn’t touch the base of the bowl. Add the white chocolate, stem ginger syrup, butter and salt to the bowl and allow to melt, stirring occasionally. It is important to keep the pan off the heat as white chocolate catches easily and will go grainy if it gets too hot. If you are struggling to melt it, you can put the pan on a low heat for a few minutes and then remove it again, using just the residual heat of the water to melt everything.
- Put the ginger biscuits in a large mixing bowl and crush with the end of a rolling pin – I like to leave some chunkier pieces to ensure the biscuit cake has texture. Add the chopped stem ginger to the bowl, then pour in the melted white chocolate mixture and stir well until everything is well coated. Add the freeze-dried cherries and stir again to mix through.
- Pour the mixture into your prepared tin and level out in an even layer, ensuring the mixture fills right to the corners of the tin. Transfer to the fridge to cool and set for 2–3 hours.
- When the cake is almost set, melt the white chocolate for the topping in the same way as you did for the cake. Pour the melted chocolate over the cake and use a palette knife to smooth it out in an even layer.
- Lightly crush the sour cherries for the topping, then scatter them over the top of the cake. Return the cake to the fridge for 30 minutes to allow the chocolate to set, then use a sharp knife to slice the cake into bite-sized pieces.
NOTES
SHELF LIFE: Wrapped in airtight packaging, this will keep well for two weeks.
SUBSTITUTIONS: You can use dried sour cherries in this recipe instead of freeze-dried. Pistachios also make a nice addition.
HOW TO POST: Wrap the slab tightly in cellophane and tissue. This is quite sturdy so can be posted in a mixed box, or on its own in a well-fitted box.
