Custard Trifle

Ingredients

• 85 g strawberry or mixed-fruit jelly crystals
• 500 ml water, half boiling and half cold, for the jelly
• 1 l full-fat milk, divided
• 40 g vanilla custard powder (about 4 heaped tbsp)
• 100 g sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 400 g plain vanilla sponge cake, cut into 2 cm cubes
• 400 g canned fruit cocktail, drained, syrup reserved
• 2 bananas, sliced just before assembling
• 250 ml whipping cream, well chilled
• 2 tbsp icing sugar
• 2 tbsp almonds, blanched and sliced
• 2 tbsp pistachios, roughly chopped
• 8 glacé cherries, to decorate

Instructions

1. Make the jelly first. Dissolve the crystals in 250 ml boiling water, stir in 250 ml cold water and pour into a shallow tray. Chill for about 2 hours until firm, then cut into small cubes.
2. Mix the custard powder with 200 ml of the cold milk in a bowl until completely smooth with no lumps.
3. Heat the remaining 800 ml milk with the sugar in a heavy saucepan over medium heat until steaming and the sugar has dissolved. Do not let it boil hard.
4. Lower the heat and pour in the custard paste while stirring constantly. Cook for 6–8 minutes, stirring, until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and a line drawn through it holds.
5. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the vanilla. Press cling film directly onto the surface to stop a skin forming, and let the custard cool to room temperature.
6. Spread half of the cake cubes over the base of the trifle bowl. Spoon about 4 tablespoons of the reserved fruit syrup over them so the sponge is damp but not soggy.
7. Scatter half of the drained fruit cocktail and half of the banana slices over the cake. Add half of the jelly cubes, then pour over half of the cooled custard and smooth the top.
8. Repeat with the remaining cake, syrup, fruit, banana, jelly and custard. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour while you prepare the cream.
9. Whip the chilled cream with the icing sugar until it holds soft peaks. Stop before it turns grainy.
10. Spread the cream over the custard in a thick layer, swirling the top with a spoon. Scatter over the almonds and pistachios and dot with cherries.
11. Chill the finished trifle for at least 3–4 hours, or overnight, so the layers settle and the flavours blend. Serve cold.

Tips

• Cool the custard fully before layering, or it will melt the jelly and split the cream.
• Use a slightly dry or day-old sponge. Fresh, very soft cake turns to mush once the syrup is added.
• Slice bananas just before assembling and cover them with custard so they do not brown.
• Whip the cream over a bowl of ice in hot weather so it holds its shape.