Cherry Trifle
(with apologies to mil’s Sherry Trifle)
Bake a genoise sponge (equal weights SR flour, sugar, eggs and quarter weight butter) a week or two ahead. My recipe is 4oz flour, 8” square tin and bakes for 20 mins at 160C fan. But you could scale up or down depending on the size of your trifle dish. I add some almond essence but that’s optional. You have to whisk the eggs and sugar until they’re white and about three times the volume, fold the flour super gently and drizzle the melted butter down the side of the bowl, to preserve the air.
On Christmas Eve, I put the stale sponge in the trifle bowl (you want a glass dish with straight sides so the layers are even)
I strain a tin of pitted sweet cherries, and some firmer fruit like chopped pears and set aside.
I use the juice from the cherry and pear cans to make jelly using clear gelatine sheets, a little sugar and adding a spoonful of brandy at the end, and pour that over the sponge and fruit. It will turn a freakish purple colour that looks more appropriate for Halloween. (I recommend doing a practise run then). While that sets in the fridge, I make custard.
Custard - 100ml double cream, and a teaspoon of sugar to each large egg yolk. I use 6 egg yolks (but again, scale to the dish) and I add an extra egg yolk to get a thicker custard as I want it to set but you can also just use a spoonful of cornflour if you don’t mind the taste. Add vanilla for flavour.
Before I add the custard I check that the jelly has set, and I add the cherries, pear and other fruit if using before the custard. I’ll whip cream on Christmas Day but I don’t add that until I’m ready to serve, with grated dark chocolate on top. I always intend to put toasted flaked almonds on too, but that’s beyond my capabilities on Christmas Day.
It’s freakishly dark purple and utterly delicious. You can of course buy sponge and custard but the homemade version is much nicer.
I use up the egg whites in a pavlova, and the royal icing for the gingerbread house which we put together on Christmas Eve and eat on New Year.