Cherry Trifle

by Nigella Lawson from How to be a Domestic Goddess (Vintage/Chatto & Windus)

Photography: Petrina Tinslay

I came to trifle relatively late in life, which is probably just as well.  Trifles do need a certain amount of attention, but this can be spread over days if that makes life easier.  Most satisfying, trifles are best when they are the fruitful result of leftover-inspired innovation.  Use any stale cake lying around and create harmoniously accordingly.

As with trifles, it’s hard to specify quantities: really you need to think of layers rather than amounts, but I can see that doesn’t help much with the shopping list.  The quantities below were enough to fill – just – a glass bowl such as you might expect to use for trifle:  you can see from the picture.  Otherwise, I tend to use a rather unsuitable terracotta dish with a capacity of about 2½ litres.

Serves 10-12

Ingredients

For the trifle:

135ml brandy

1 vanilla pod, cut into lengths

300ml full-fat milk

300ml whipping or double cream

8 large egg yolks

75g caster sugar

8 trifle sponges (1 packet)

approximately 100g best cherry jam (Nigel used blackberry jam)

750g cherries (Nigel used blackberries)

For the topping:

3 tablespoons flaked almonds

500ml double cream

1 tablespoon sieved cherry jam

Juice of ½ lemon

1 tablespoon water.

Method

First, make your vanilla-brandy infusion to flavour the custard later.  So, in a small saucepan, bring 60ml – about 4 tablespoons – of brandy and the chopped vanilla pod to the boil, and then let it bubble away for 2 minutes.  Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

Fill the sink with cold water, and get on with the custard: warm the milk and cream in  a saucepan.  In a bowl, whisk together the yolks and sugar, then beat the warm milk and cream into the yolks.  Put everything back into the washed-out saucepan and, stirring or whisking constantly, keep on a low heat until it thickens.   With this many yolks, it won’t take long.  But if you think there’s any sign of imminent splitting, plunge the pan into the sink of cold water and beat like mad with a Magiwhisk till all the danger is averted.

When the custard’s thick, take it off the heat, stir in the brandy-vanilla infusion and set aside, covered with wet greaseproof, till cold.

Split the trifle sponges and sandwich with the cherry jam and line a bowl (preferably glass) with them.  Pour over the remaining 75ml brandy and now, holding them over the sponges in the bowl for profitable juice catching, stone the cherries.  Boring work, time consuming certainly, but not difficult.  When all the cherries are stoned and in, pour over the cooled custard, cover with clingfilm and rest in the fridge for 24 hours, or at least 12.

When you’re ready to eat, or almost, toast the almonds in a dry pan for a few minutes till golden and aromatic, then turn onto a cold plate to cool.  Whip the double cream till thick but still soft, and pile it over the custard in the bowl.  Put the sieved cherry jam, lemon juice and the tablespoonsful of water into a little pan and bring it to the boil, letting it bubble away till you have a runny red syrup. Take the pan off the heat to let it cool down slightly, then scatter the almonds over the trifle and drizzle of the jam syrup.

Drinks tasted on air, alongside the dish: