Adding Port to the Dessert

A bottle of Port is stereotypically seen in a grandfathers liquor cabinet, sipped slowly while sitting on an old leather couch and under the low light from a lamp shade. For that reason people generally aren’t keen to experiment or try new ways of enjoying this fortified wine.

Before we go on and for those unaware, Port is actually a fortified wine from… Portugal! Generally the wine is sourced from the Duoro Valley and the taste can be described as rich, smooth, sweet red wine with black fruit flavours. The real bottles of Port will have guarantee label “Garantia” with bottle numbers.

Now, rather than just sip on bottles of lovely Port, Cockburn’s, a major player in the Port industry, has supplied EFTM with a great way to use this lovely beverage in a dessert. The next time you have friends over for dinner, surprise them with this one. It’s also not as difficult as the title sounds!

Port & Prune Chocolate Torte

INGREDIENTS

• 200g pitted prunes, roughly chopped
• 150ml Cockburn’s Fine Tawny Port
• 300g dark chocolate
• 180g ground almonds
• 6 free-range egg whites
• 200g caster sugar
• Cocoa powder, for dusting
• Fresh cherries or plums (halved), to garnish
• Crème fraîche, to serve.

Prior Preparation: Place the prunes and port in a non-reactive (normally it’s e.g. glass, ceramic, stainless steel) bowl and leave to soak overnight.

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 180°C fanbake.
2. Grease and line a 24-26cm springform cake tin
3. Melt chocolate in a double boiler over simmering water. Remove from heat and stir in almonds and the port soaked prunes
4. Beat egg whites in a mixer until starting to stiffen. With mixer running, gradually add sugar and whisk until slightly shiny.
5. Gently fold this meringue into chocolate mixture
6. Spoon into tin and bake for around 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Let it cool in the tin
7. Dust top with good-quality cocoa powder, garnish with cherries or plums and serve with crème fraîche

EFTM serving suggestion: Serve with a nip of Port obviously!