Ingredients :

• Mascarpone — The base. No valid substitute — cream cheese or ricotta yield something wetter and less stable. Use full-fat mascarpone, taken out of the fridge 15 minutes before use: at room temperature, it incorporates without lumps and the cream remains homogeneous.
• Cherries — Fresh in season is obviously better — pitted, they release a slightly acidic natural juice perfect for soaking the biscuits. Off-season, well-drained jarred cherries in syrup work very well. Keep the syrup: it’s your soaking liquid.
• Ladyfingers — These long, spongy biscuits also known as ‘biscuits cuillère’. The brand matters little, but check that they aren’t too thin — otherwise they disappear into the cream and you lose the layered structure.
• Grated dark chocolate — Grate it yourself on a coarse grater rather than using store-bought chips — homemade shavings have more presence and melt differently on the tongue. A chocolate with 60-70% cocoa, no more bitter, or it will dominate everything else.