Chocolate & Amaretto Torte

The idea for this torte sprung from the need to create a pudding for my boyfriend's birthday dinner. Two of his favourite ingredients are chocolate and amaretto, and he loves chilled desserts. Therefore, I have included amaretto both in the form of liqueur and biscuits, and used an equal amount of dark and milk chocolate mixed with mascarpone to make a smooth filling. The result is an incredibly rich, indulgent pudding. Probably suitable to be a birthday dessert, as you should only be allowed to consume this amount of calories once a year!

INGREDIENTS

• 150 gr amaretti biscuits
• 100 gr milk chocolate
• 100 gr of dark chocolate
• 80 gr unsalted butter
• 150 ml of double cream
• 30 ml amaretto liqueur
• 250 gr mascarpone
• 50 gr sugar

Note: buy the best chocolate you can afford! I used Green & Black's.

Wrap the biscuit in a clean tea towel and crash them with a rolling pin. Melt the butter and mix it with the crushed biscuits in a bowl. 

Using the back of a spoon, spread the crushed biscuits and butter mix to the bottom of a cheesecake tin (even if it is not stick, I recommend lining it with baking parchment first). Then cover it with cling film and chill it in the fridge for about 20 minutes.

Melt the chocolate at bain marie (i.e. in a bowl placed over a pan of simmering water) and let it cool slightly. Whip the double cream together with the sugar, until it forms soft peaks. Gently beat in the mascarpone and the amaretto. Finally, incorporate the melted chocolate to the cream, mascarpone and amaretto mix.  

Pour the chocolate filling on to the chilled biscuit base, spreading it evenly with a spatula. Cover with cling film and return to the fridge to set for at least 3-4 hours.