Mon Chéri Garnet Shards

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 200 g praline(s) (Mon Chéri), ​​20 pieces
• 200 g butter, soft
• 250 g sugar
• 2 packets of vanilla sugar
• 4 eggs
• 6 tbsp milk, maybe a little less
• 400 g flour
• 1 packet of baking powder
• 65 g chocolate shavings
• some fat for the mold
• some breadcrumbs for the mold
• 250 ml cherry liqueur
• 3 tbsp cocoa powder, sweet, e.g. Kaba
• 6 tbsp milk
• 8 tbsp cherry brandy, maybe a little less
• 100 g praline(s) (Mon Chéri), ​​10 pieces
• 100 g chocolate sprinkles, almond sticks, chopped hazelnuts, dried fruit (e.g. cranberries), desiccated coconut or cinnamon and
• 400 g dark chocolate coating

Instructions

Working time approx. 2 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 50 minutes; Total time approx. 2 hours 50 minutes

the most irresistible temptation since chocolate was invented…

Makes about 70 pieces, whether that’s enough for 70 people depends on the number of people. Crush 20 Mon Chéri in a mixer or with a magic wand. Mix the butter, sugar, and vanilla sugar until the sugar no longer crunches. Gradually beat in the eggs, one at a time, for half a minute each. Add the milk and mix in. Mix the flour with the baking powder and mix in portions. Fold the chocolate shavings and Mon Chéri mixture into the batter. Pour the batter into a greased springform pan lined with breadcrumbs, smooth it out, and bake for 50-55 minutes at 170°C. Let the cake base cool, remove it from the pan, and roughly dice it. Drizzle with some of the cherry liqueur. Let it stand for a few minutes. Set about 1/3 aside. Mix the other 2/3 of the dough cubes with Kaba, milk, the remaining Kirsch, and the remaining, roughly chopped Mon Chéri. Since I have my food processor working for me, I leave the chocolates whole and add a few chocolate chips to the mixture. After about 10 minutes of kneading in the mixer, I have a nice, malleable mixture, into which I then quickly stir in any ingredients I’d like to add as pieces (e.g., chopped almonds, the remaining third of the dough cubes, or something similar). Now you can scoop out small portions with a spoon and form them into mini pomegranate chips. Then the sinful mounds are covered in chocolate coating. Let everything dry. Tips and hints: I prefer a baking sheet for baking. This only takes about 30 minutes. For further processing, it doesn’t matter which you use. I really like the tart note of cranberries, so I let them steep in the kirsch from the beginning and add them to the ingredients along with the kirsch. The ingredients for the variations can be added as desired, and the quantities given are a rough guide and depend on what you have on hand or what needs to be used up. Your imagination is the only limit. For shaping, I find it easier to make small mountains using a coffee measure, which I then roll into the desired shape in the palms of my hands. I applied the glaze with a brush, hence the long time it took, but perhaps someone has better methods. I didn’t find dipping so good, but the praline fork was a big help. Now in winter, I put the pomegranate fragments out on the balcony for 10 minutes, after which they are dry enough to be eaten. In summer, the refrigerator can be helpful for the really impatient, but of course they will dry at room temperature too; it just takes longer.