péché mignon | apple and sherry towers

Makes 4 ramekins

My mum used to make a delicious cake which was a little like this years ago, but it had butter and cream in it. This version is gorgeous and you can make a few different variations to suit your tastes.

Wheat free, dairy free, nut free, meat free version...

Method...

1. In one saucepan, start stewing the apples by heating the apples, 2 tbsp water and cinnamon.
2. Leave the lid on and keep stirring and squashing the apples until stewed.
3. In another saucepan very gently heat the chocolate, 1 tbsp water, coffee and margarine.
4. Keep stirring until it all melts. Then add the rice milk.
5. Sift in the icing sugar and mix well.
6. Get the 4 ramekins and in the bottom of each put a ginger biscuit, then drizzle each one with a tsp of sherry.
7. Cover each biscuit with a tbsp of stewed apple, then put another biscuit, drizzle with sherry and cover with another tbsp stewed apple.
8. Fill up the rest of the ramekin with the chocolate sauce.
9. Leave to cool then refrigerate until cold. The longer you can leave these during the day, the longer the sherry and ginger biscuit and apple have to infuse.

Maybe serve with...

These are superb served on their own. If you don't like ginger biscuits and/or sherry, you can just layer the apple and chocolate instead and it would still make a great dessert. Similarly, you don't need to use the chocolate sauce if you don't want to - just layer apple and biscuits, finishing with a layer of apple.

For those able to eat dairy ...

Cover with whipped or clotted cream not chocolate, but add chocolate shavings. You can also add a good knob of butter to the chocolate sauce and a little into the stewing apple too.

For those able to eat wheat...

Use wheat flour ginger biscuits. If you want to use dairy and wheat ginger biscuits for those people who can eat them, you can because you've got separate ramekins - and it might be cheaper for you. With dairy and wheat biscuits, you can quickly dip one side in a lipped plate of sherry and stack. You can't do this with dairy and wheat free versions because they're too porous; they just collapse (as I found out!) - which is why I put them in the ramekins and THEN drizzle with sherry!

If you have leftover ginger biscuits, see the mini no-bake 'cheesecake'. If you have leftover apples, see the fruit crumble. If you have leftover chocolate sauce, see Maggie B 's chocolate cake - or add in 1-2 tbsp rice milk (depending on how much you have left) over a gentle heat and use as a pouring chocolate sauce.

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