Mary’s Royal Cherry Trifle

Ingredients

• 450 g Cherries (Reserve a few attractive cherries for decoration; stone the rest.)
• 340 g Cherry jam or cherry conserve (Use half for the cherry filling and the other half to spread on the cake.)
• 450 g Madeira cake (Cut into 1 cm-thick slices.)
• 100 ml Cherry liqueur or cherry brandy (For soaking the cake sandwiches.)
• 10 Ratafia biscuits (Alternatively, use 5 amaretti biscuits; broken into pieces.)
• 300 ml Whipping cream, lightly whipped (Lightly whip for the top layer.)
• 50 g Caster sugar (For the vanilla custard.)
• 50 g Cornstarch (For the vanilla custard.)
• 1 TL Vanilla extract (For the vanilla custard.)
• 2 Large eggs (For the vanilla custard.)
• 1 Egg yolk (In addition to the two whole eggs.)
• 300 ml Milk (For the vanilla custard.)
• 300 ml Whipping cream (Heat together with the milk for the vanilla custard.)

Steps

1. 1

   For the vanilla custard, put the sugar, cornstarch, and vanilla extract into a mixing bowl. Add the two eggs and the egg yolk, then whisk everything with a hand whisk until smooth and well combined.

2. 2

   Put the milk and the whipping cream intended for the vanilla custard into a saucepan and heat gently over low to medium heat until hot but not boiling.

3. 3

   Pour the hot milk and cream mixture over the egg mixture and whisk thoroughly immediately until combined.

4. 4

   Rinse out the saucepan to remove any foam that may be sticking to the milk. Pour the egg and milk mixture back into the clean saucepan and heat gently, stirring constantly, until thickened.

5. 5

   If the custard looks lumpy as it thickens, continue heating and whisk vigorously until it becomes thick and smooth again. Pour the custard into a jug, cover the surface directly with plastic wrap, and leave to cool to prevent a skin from forming.

6. 6

   Put the stoned cherries and half of the cherry jam into a saucepan. Cook over medium heat for 5–10 minutes, until the cherries are soft and a juicy sauce has formed. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly.

7. 7

   Spread half of the Madeira cake slices generously with the remaining cherry jam. Sandwich them with the remaining cake slices, then cut each sandwich in half.

8. 8

   Pour the cherry liqueur or cherry brandy into a shallow bowl. Briefly dip each cake sandwich into the liqueur, then arrange them in a shallow, straight-sided round glass dish about 20 cm in diameter and 5 cm deep. Line the edge first to create a striped pattern, then fill the center and drizzle over any remaining liquid.

9. 9

   Spoon the cherries and their juices from the saucepan over the cake. Sprinkle the broken ratafia or amaretti biscuits over the top.

10. 10

    Pour the cooled vanilla custard over the biscuits. Spread the lightly whipped cream evenly over the top and decorate the trifle with the reserved whole cherries.

11. 11

    Chill the trifle for several hours. It can also be prepared the day before and refrigerated for up to 24 hours before serving.

Notes

For a particularly neat striped pattern, arrange the cake sandwiches around the edge of the glass dish first. The trifle can be prepared and refrigerated up to 24 hours in advance.

Nutrition per serving

• Dessert
• British
• Trifle
• Cherries
• Creamy
• Alcoholic
• Served chilled
• Festive