Method

• 1.
  Line a large baking tray with baking paper. Place 250g chocolate and coconut oil in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Stir until melted and smooth, then pour onto prepared tray and spread into a thin layer with a palette knife. Place in the freezer to set completely.

• 2.
  Meanwhile, grease a 26cm x 12cm loaf pan and line with a triple layer of baking paper, leaving 5cm overhanging on each side. Roughly chop amarena cherries and place in a medium bowl with the cherry syrup. Fold through softened ice cream then cover and freeze, stirring occasionally so the cherries don’t sink to the bottom of the bowl, for 2-3 hours until just firm.
• 3.
  Carefully cut the frozen chocolate sheet into five 26cm x 12cm strips. Place one chocolate strip at the base of the loaf pan, then top with half the plain vanilla ice cream. Top with another strip of chocolate and half of the cherry ice cream. Repeat alternating ice creams and layering with chocolate once more, finishing with chocolate. Freeze for 6 hours or until firm.
• 4.
  Meanwhile, to make the chocolate shards, melt remaining 50g chocolate and thinly spread over a piece of baking paper. Cover with another piece of baking paper and freeze for 30 minutes or until ready to serve, then chop into shards.
• 5.
  Before serving, whisk mascarpone, cream and icing sugar together in a bowl. Spoon cream mixture then cherry jam, alternating between the two, into a piping bag fitted with a large star nozzle (this will create a swirl when you pipe it out). Turn layer cake onto a serving dish and remove baking paper. Pipe cream and jam mixture on top of the layer cake and scatter with cherries and chocolate shards to serve.