Every year from here on in we will purchase a box of fresh cherries from rural NSW to devour over the festive season.

What a fantastic tradition to start - however the scale of the tradition may need to be downsized somewhat considering the size of our little family. While all of the family love cherries, our cherry-eating capacity was certainly outweighed by the five kilograms of cherries purchased by my husband.

So, after offloading to our extended family and friends, we still had around three kilos to make the most of.

There was no way I was going to let these deliciously ripe, juicy cherries grow old in the fridge over a couple of weeks.

So started a week of inventing 101 cherry recipes to showcase these little gems of the fruit world and consequentially a week of antioxidant loading for the family.

I made cherry muffins, cherry jam, cherry sauce, we had cherries on yoghurt, cherries through our salads, cherries with everything.

One of the corker recipes that came out of my week of cherry creations was this Choc Cherry Ripe Slice, a new take on an old classic without the nasty imitation cherries or artificial colouring and refined sugar that accompany the classic Cherry Ripe Slice. This slice is gluten free, dairy free and uses raw honey and beetroot to sweeten.

It is such a Christmassy-looking slice it's perfect to make to take along to add Christmas cheer to any social gathering and it tastes as good as it looks.

CHOC CHERRY RIPE

Makes 16 square bites

Base:

Ingredients

160g almonds (activated if possible)

90g desiccated coconut

6 medjool dates, pitted

Pinch of Himalayan salt (or sea salt)

½ tsp of natural vanilla extract

Method

To make the base, place the almonds and coconut into a food processor and blend until they are broken up into a nice crumbly consistency.

Add the dates, salt and vanilla extract and pulse until the mixture comes together (don't over mix as you will lose texture and the base will become too oily).

Press the mixture firmly into the base of a greased and lined 20cm square cake tin. Freeze to set (note, the base won't set unless you put it in the freezer before putting the second layer on).

Cherry ripe layer:

Ingredients

1½ cups desiccated coconut (fine)

1 cup of diced fresh cherries

30g of coconut oil, melted

½ tsp vanilla

1 (800g) egg white

⅓ cup raw honey (more if you want it extra sweet)

½tsp of beetroot juice*

*Using a fine grater or zester, grate a small beetroot over a sieve, push the beetroot through the sieve so the fluid drains into a glass bowl - natural pink food colouring!)

Method

Mix the coconut, oil, vanilla, egg white and honey together in a large mixing bowl. This will take a bit of patience and elbow grease to ensure all ingredients are mixed well as the honey tends to stick in clumps. But if you persist it will come together well and taste amazing.

Once well combined, add the beetroot juice and mix until the colour is distributed evenly.

Add the diced cherries and fold through the mixture then spoon on top of the set base. Press firmly into the base to ensure a nice flat layer.

Chocolate layer:

Ingredients

200g good quality (at least 70 per cent) dark chocolate, or homemade raw chocolate*

* If you are making your own raw chocolate - mix equal quantities of liquid coconut oil and raw cacao powder (e.g. ½ cup of each), add enough maple syrup to sweeten to your liking (1-2 tbsp) and mix until well combined.

Pour over the slice and place in the freezer to set.

Method

Melt 150g of good quality dark chocolate and pour evenly over the top of the cherry ripe layer and allow to set.

A little helpful hint is to score the chocolate layer (when set slightly) to allow for ease of carving once set. Otherwise you will end up with shards of chocolate everywhere when carving later on.

Keep this slice in the freezer until you are ready to serve as it will melt quickly on a hot day.

Enjoy!