Chef Anna Polyviou's quick and easy dessert – with a cherry on top

I grew up with this quick recipe: Mum learnt it from a lady at work and ended up making it for every occasion. For birthdays, teas, Sunday family lunch, the occasion didn’t matter. It’s just whipped cream and chocolate biscuits, with a cherry on top to finish it.

Quick twist

You can make this as a big cake in a loaf or round tin, and use chocolate sprinkles as a decoration. Or blitz any leftover biscuits in a food processor and sprinkle the crumbs on top.

Cherry on top

Ingredients (Serves 6)

500 ml (17 fl oz/2 cups) pure (pouring) cream (35% fat)

20g (¾ oz) icing (confectioners’) sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla paste

1 packet chocolate-flavoured biscuits

6 glacé cherries with stems

Method

■ Combine the cream, icing sugar and vanilla paste in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk until semi-firm.

■ Lay one biscuit down on a tray and put 1 tablespoon of whipped cream on top.
Put another biscuit on top of the first one and top with whipped cream. Continue to make a stack of four biscuits and cream.

■ Dollop the cream on top of the last biscuit.

■ Finish the creation with a cherry on top, then refrigerate for 1–2 hours before serving to allow the cream to soak into the biscuits.

This is an edited extract from Sweet Street by Anna Polyviou, Murdoch Books, $39.99. Photography by Nikki To, food styling by Rhianne Contreras.

• annapolyviou.com

Instagram: @annapolyviou