Dried cherries are one of my favourite dried fruits; sour, sweet and wilfully chewy, their inclusion here along with pistachios, cardamom and chocolate is spot on. What makes this cake especially clever is how the cake batter behaves as it bakes. On the bottom you get a good crunchy base, and the remaining half of the base is then mixed through with the sour cream and egg to bake as a soft and cake-y top, all studded with nuts, cherries and chocolate. Serve with crème fraîche or sour cream.

Recipe adapted from New Kitchen Basics, Quadrille (£25)

Ingredients

Name: Dark chocolate, pistachio and dried cherry torte
Ingredients: 130g light brown soft sugar, plus 2 tbsp for sprinkling ½ tsp ground cinnamon ½ tsp ground cardamom 100g plain flour Pinch of salt 50g cold unsalted butter, diced 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder 120ml sour cream, plus extra to serve ½ tsp baking powder 1 egg 80g dark chocolate, finely chopped, or use the same weight of dark chocolate buttons 40g shelled pistachios or chopped almonds 40g dried cherries

130g light brown soft sugar, plus 2 tbsp for sprinkling

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground cardamom

100g plain flour

Pinch of salt

50g cold unsalted butter, diced

1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

120ml sour cream, plus extra to serve

½ tsp baking powder

1 egg

80g dark chocolate, finely chopped, or use the same weight of dark chocolate buttons

40g shelled pistachios or chopped almonds

40g dried cherries