Summer Fruit trifle – A touch of Summer at Christmas!

What would Christmas be without a sherry trifle? My mum used to make a lovely Raspberry Sherry Trifle that always went down a treat with everyone at Christmas. I made it for my family for years and it was always a success.

When I was working for the radio I did a Christmas Special where I developed new recipes for the listeners and the viewers. Yes I did say viewers, we used to have an audience watching while I cooked live on air! Have you ever tried cooking a full Christmas dinner dressed as a fairy? It aint easy, I can tell you. But is great fun.

One of the recipes I developed was a black forest trifle that was a great hit, so I thought I would share it with all of you. Sadly when I went to get the ingredients I couldn’t find them! Undaunted, I scanned the shelves and came up with an idea. What about a Summer Fruits Trifle? So here it is!

Method.

Slice the swiss rolls, quite thickly, and place around the outer edge and into the centre of your bowl.

 

Drain the juice from the fruit into a measuring jug. Fill it up to just under the pint mark with the alcohol of your choice (you can be as generous as you wish with this) and then make it up to under the pint with water. The jelly really needs to set well and I find it best not to use the full pint of liquid because there is always a little extra juice that escapes in with the drained fruit.

 

Place the drained fruit on top of the swiss roll and spread it evenly over the top.

 

 

Break the jelly up and put it into a microwave safe jug. Place the jug on the outer edge of the turntable and microwave at FULL power for 30 – 40 seconds, until it is melted. Alternatively follow the instructions on the pack to make the jelly but don’t forget to make it less than a pint.

 

Pour the juice, water and alcohol over the melted jelly. I find it best to do this a bit at a time. Stir it well to make sure that the jelly is completed blended into the liquid. Place the bowl into the fridge and leave until the jelly has set in the cake mixture.

 

 

 

When the jelly has set, make up one pint of custard following the instructions on the pack. Pour the custard over the top of the jelly, fruit and cake. Don’t worry, it will be fine if the jelly melts a little. Place the bowl back into the fridge to set.

 

 

 

Whip the double cream, be careful not to over whip it, you want to be able to spread or pipe it over the top of the trifle. I have used a stencil that I bought years ago and just lightly sprinkled chocolate powder over the top to create the decoration. Alternatively you can just sprinkle the topping of your choice over or if you are feeling really adventurous you can pipe the cream on!

If you want to make the classic Raspberry Sherry Trifle that my Mum used to make all you need to do is substitute the summer fruits for raspberries using the same amounts and the strawberry jelly for a raspberry jelly. Then simply follow the instructions as above.

If you can get hold of the ingredients then the Black Forest Trifle is a real winner as well! Simply use cherry jelly, tinned black cherries and substitute Cherry Brandy for the Sherry. I also use plain chocolate cake or trifle sponges in place of the swiss roll. Don’t use a chocolate swiss roll as they tend to have a cream filling which doesn’t work.

So there you go! Three variations on a classic trifle for your Christmas table!