Use a little butter to grease an 18cm round shallow cake tin (i.e. sandwich tin).

Put the butter and syrup into a large saucepan and melt gently over a low heat, taking care that the mixture doesn’t get too hot. Remove from the heat and stir in the cocoa powder, raisins and cherries. Add the biscuit crumbs and stir very thoroughly until well-mixed. Tip into the prepared tin, press down and level the surface. Chill for 20 minutes.

Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl positioned over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Spread over the chilled biscuit base and sprinkle the raisins, cherries and almonds on top. Chill for another 30 minutes before serving.

Cook’s tips:

*Keep covered and chilled and use within 2 weeks.
*The easiest way to crush the biscuits is to put them into a polythene bag and bash them with a rolling pin.
*Use any nuts you like for the topping – pistachios, Brazil nuts or pecans all work well. If you have a nut allergy, simply leave them out.
*Making this for vegans? Use a dairy-free alternative to butter.