While botanically a coconut is a drupe and not a true nut, coconuts have a rich nutty flavour and creamy texture that is a good substitute for the richness of dairy. Like the process of slowly cooking a tin of condensed milk and making dulce de leche, the idea was that, buried in the ashes, the coconut flesh would cook down slowly in its own sweet milk. The result was incredible. The coconut retained all its natural juices but they had combined with the creamy flesh, taking on subtle notes of smoke and caramel, and an intense coconut flavour. We then froze it to make a refreshing sorbet, which needed nothing more than the addition of a little sugar. For a bit of texture, we made a choc-top, combining high-quality chocolate with coconut oil, which sets and hardens to a crisp coating on contact and provides a delicate bitterness to the sweetness of the coconut. A chocolate with notes of dried fruit pairs well with the fresh cherry granita and grilled cherries, making it quite decadent.