Friday 20 April 2007

If It's Fruit, It's Good For You...

I was walking innocently past various shops in Bluewater when I was cunningly ambushed by a window display: a huge cherry.

I'm not really into fruit. But this was no ordinary cherry. It had rather a lot of chocolate lovingly dripped over it. Now, when I was much younger, my mother (who is German) used to make me a proper Black Forest cherry gateaux for my birthday. And I mean a proper one. She used to get the cherries pre-soaked from some continental food specialist shop, and then she would soak the bottom sponge layer in kirsch (and we'd drink a glass of kirsch for good measure!) and the cherries were enough to send you over the limit (luckily, I didn't drive in my early teens)... and then more kirsch... Each year, one of my presents would be this cake: it was so much hassle to make that it was a once-a-year production!

When my (English) stepfather appeared on the scene, he wanted to get a really special Black Forest gateaux as a special birthday present, and went to Harrods and ordered one... but the sponge was typical shop-bought sponge, and there wasn't any kirsch, and the bottom layer of cherries was more cherry jam... but he'd meant well, and so, because we didn't want to hurt his feelings, that was the end of the home-made version. And a couple of years later I left home, and birthday cake was no longer on the menu, so to speak...

So, today, all of my birthday cake memories came flooding back in an instant. Mesmerised by the display, I wandered inside the shop... just over the threshold with half a toe... to be greeted by a shop assistant... with samples...

...ummm. And it must be good for me, because it's dark chocolate (55% cocoa solids) and cherries are full of vitamins.

To be fair, I think that Green & Black's chocolate is better. But this comes a pretty close runner-up, and if you're in the mood for a hit of kirsch, then this wins hands down. Even better (or should that be worse?) I find that they do online ordering... visit them HERE.

7 comments:

Kasia said...

Oh dear...

I don't suppose they deliver to the USA...best not to even look...oh, but I DID look...

I completely understand why you were unable to resist its sweet seductions. That cherry on their page looks positively sinful (in the best possible way, of course).

Anonymous said...

Mmmmmm! Do you speak German, by the way?

In Edinburgh we have a German Christmas Market (or PC-termed Winterfest) every Advent...they always have the chocolate fruit. :-D

Simon-Peter Vickers-Buckley said...

STOP!

"proper Black Forest cherry gateaux for my birthday. And I mean a proper one."

*leaves weeping*

Mulier Fortis said...

Simon, I've got one of those face-mask things on. If you make it crack, somehow I will kill you!!

Don't make me laugh!!

Mulier Fortis said...

Mark, I speak a little. I understand much more (my mother was afraid I'd pick up an accent, so refused to teach me German)

Jeffrey Smith said...

Oh, was it really necessary to put me through this?

fr paul harrison said...

As I have to abstain from chocolates for the time being because of my gallstone problems, this blog did tempt me to a relapse - but I resisted!

fr paul harrison

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