I have abandonment issues.

Everyone is leaving me. I wish I was kidding.

One close friend packed up and moved to Melbourne late last year. Another moved to Dubai, and flits in and out with the predictability of a cyclone. The Best Friend is moving to Canberra next month to join the Army. I’m beginning to get a complex, maybe it’s me.

But the latest jewel in my string of goodbyes are the team of gorgeous people I worked with before swapping roles in November. They’re moving offices, leaving me with no one to fist bump at random points during the day. Who will I palm my baking experiments off onto now? I do have other friends, but I happen to also like these ones. You guys are selfish. Stoppit.

Anyhow, sulking aside. All these farewells mean only one thing: Tequila Food. Barbecues, morning tea, dinners. In typical fashion, I expressed my begrudging happiness for my friends in the only way I know how.

I love cherries. They’re how I know it’s Christmas time, and when I got older, they were the reward at the bottom of champagne cocktails. I hate champagne. Glace cherries were always quickly funneled out of mum’s pantry. The morello cherries are slightly sour, giving balance to the overly sweet glace.

Cherry Ripe Tart

Pastry – from What Katie Ate
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup caster sugar
100g chopped butter
3 tbsp chilled water

Filling – from Taste
1 1/2 cups (265g) morello cherries in syrup
1/4 cup caster sugar
200g chopped red glace cherries
3 tsp arrowroot or tapioca flour
1 cup shredded coconut
150g dark chocolate
2 tbs pouring cream

1) Preheat the oven to 200°C. Sift together the flour and cocoa powder. Add the sugar, and stir to combine. Add the butter, and work to a consistency of fine breadcrumbs (or dirt, which is kind of what it looks like). Add water, a tablespoon at a time and mix until a dough forms. You may not need all of the water, so add slowly. Wrap the dough in cling wrap, and chill for 30 minutes.

2) On a floured surface, roll out the dough. Line a loose-bottomed tart pan with the pastry. Prick the pastry with a fork, then line with baking paper and fill with pie weights. Bake for 10 minutes, then remove the baking paper and weights and further bake for 5 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes.

3) Drain the cherries, keeping 1/2 cup of syrup. Place the sugar, morello and glace cherries and syrup in a small saucepan medium over heat. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Combine the arrowroot with 2 tbsp of the liquid from the pan, mixing until a smooth paste. Add the paste to the cherry mixture and stir for a minute, cooking, until thick. Pour into a bowl and allow to cool for 20 minutes. Fold the coconut into the cherry mixture, then spoon into the tart and refrigerate for an hour to set.

4) Warm the cream in a pan over simmering water. Remove from heat and add the chocolate, stirring while it melts. Set aside to allow the ganache to cool for 10 minutes. Spread the cooled ganache over the tart, slice and serve.

Tapioca flour or arrowroot is a thickener, akin to corn flour. You could probably swap them if you don’t have arrowroot, however it may make the mixture a little cloudy. But that’s ok, it won’t impact the taste at all.

The cherries I found in my local supermarket, in with the tinned fruit, not where you find the glace cherries. Also, if you can’t be bothered making the pastry (you should though, it’s really easy) you can sub in Careme chocolate shortcrust pastry (300g worth), found in the supermarket of IGAs.