Felicity Cloake
It's a sweet irony that the trifle,
described by the late food writer
Alan Davidson as perhaps 'Britain's
supreme contribution to the dessert
tables of the world' should bear a
title which suggests it is of such
piddling importance. 'This,' he
observed, 'surely is carrying much
too far the British tradition of playing
down the merits of things British'.
Yet I love trifle all the more for its
name, which perfectly sums up this
easy-going, almost infinitely adaptable
pud, happy to play host to tart berries
and elderflower liqueur in summer,
baked apples and pears and sloe gin
when autumn rolls round, and to
welcome in juicy winter citrus and
nutty Tawny Port at this time of year.
Quick to make and quite content to
chill in the fridge while you go out for
a bracing Boxing Day walk or sit
down for a nap in front of Paddington
2, trifle is ideally suited to the merry
chaos of the season – and its many
surpluses too.
Indeed, the recipe opposite is an
excellent final resting place for the
dregs of both plum pudding and the
Tawny Port that may well have
followed – but if you inadvertently
polish off the entire bottle with your
Stilton, then it will work just as well
with Madeira, sweet sherry, or in fact
almost anything sticky. Unlike your
average Christmas, it's very laidback.
Tawny orange
trifle
Serves 6
Ingredients:
| Enough leftover Christmas
pudding or fruit cake to cover
the base of your bowl, or use a
packet of madeira cake or
boudoir biscuits if you prefer |
| A little a Tawny Port
(3-5 tbsp depending on taste) |
| 5 large oranges |
| Good grating of nutmeg |
| 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon |
| 1 litre thick custard, at room
temperature (I favour custard
powder, as it sets well, but good
ready-made is fine) |
| 300ml cold whipping cream |
| 3 tbsp amaretto or almond
extract and icing sugar to taste |
| 2 tbsp flaked almonds, toasted |
| 1 tbsp pomegranate seeds |
Method:
Break up the pudding or cake
and arrange in the base of a
large glass dish. Drizzle over
some Port, and leave to soak in.
Peel the oranges and cut into
thick rings. Arrange on top of
the cake and dust with the
spices.
Spoon the custard on top of
the oranges, cover and
refrigerate.
When you're almost ready to
serve, pour the cream into a
large dish and whisk until
beginning to thicken, then
whisk in the amaretto to taste
(or substitute almond extract
and a pinch of icing sugar or
honey if you prefer) and
continue whisking until the
cream forms soft peaks. Spoon
on top of the custard.
Scatter the almonds and
pomegranate seeds over the
top just before serving.
Felicity
Cloake
Felicity is an
award-winning
wine and food
writer with
several
cookbooks to
her name and a regular column
in The Guardian. We are
delighted to announce that
Felicity will be supplying us with
joyous dishes to make more of
our wines in a regular feature in
our Newsletter and in our
Discovery pages online.