Fresh Strawberry Trifle

Ingredients

Description

When I proposed this trifle for a Christmas feature in Cuisine I had no idea just how popular it would prove to be. Despite the completely home-made components, many readers tell me it is now the annual fixture for their Christmas feast. A real ‘down under’ answer to traditional fare, it involves baking a classic genoise sponge, stewing strawberries for the strawberry jelly, making a rich silky crème anglaise, whipping the cream and selecting the perfect strawberries for the top. You may like to buy the prepared versions of these components, but it just won’t be quite the same and if you do it yourself I’m sure everyone will admire the special effort you’ve made. Plus the flavours are truly divine.

 

Method

Prepare a 22cm cake tin by lining with baking paper and brushing the sides with butter, then lightly coating in flour. Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Break the eggs in a large bowl and whisk together with the sugar over a pan of very hot water until the mixture is thick and mousse-like and the double in bulk. (This is easily done with an electric mixer, but the results are just as good, if not better, if you whisk by hand in a bowl set over hot water. It will take at least 10 minutes, however.) Add the vanilla essence.

Sift the flour and fold in gently, then add the butter mixing it in as rapidly and carefully as possible. Turn the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Cool on a rack.

To make the jelly, remove the tops from the strawberries and cut each berry in half. Place in a heavy-based saucepan with the sugar and water and very gently bring to a simmer, ensuring all sugar has dissolved. Simmer for about three minutes, so the juices run from the strawberries, then allow to cool.

Heat the gelatine with a little water in a small pan until it dissolves, but do not let it boil. Remove from the heat and stir the melted gelatine into the cooled strawberries and their juice, and leave until the jelly is almost setting.

Line a clear glass bowl with sponge by cutting the sponge into fingers and placing them so they completely cover the base of the bowl. Sprinkle the sponge with liqueur such as Cointreau, or with a sweet sherry. Then as the jelly starts to set, tip this onto the sponge in the bowl.                 

To make the crème anglaise, bring the milk and cream, with the vanilla bean, to simmering point in a heavy saucepan. Remove from the heat and allow the liquid to infuse with the vanilla.

Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a separate bowl until light and frothy. Tip the warm liquid from the pan onto the egg yolk mixture, stirring carefully.

Rinse out the pan, return the mixture to it, place over a moderate heat and stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens to coat the back of the back of the spoon when it is lifted from the pan. Do not let the crème anglaise boil or it will split and curdle. When thick, strain into a clean bowl; remove the vanilla bean. Allow to cool a little.

Start work on the topping by whisking the cream until it is firm. Hull the strawberries. Place the almonds in a heavy pan with the sugar and shake over very gentle heat until the sugar melts, then turns golden brown. Remove from the heat immediately and tip on to a sheet of baking paper to set. When the almond praline is cool, chop into pieces.

To assemble, the sponge and strawberry jelly should already be set in glass bowl (see above). Pour crème anglaise over this, and leave to set for a few minutes. Cover with the whipped cream, then decorate with a layer of praline and strawberries.

The trifle can be made up to 12 hours ahead and refrigerated so often the flavours melt into each other. Be sure to cover the top of the glass bowl with plastic wrap so that the trifle does not absorb any other flavours in the fridge.

Serves 10 to 12.

Categories

Desserts
Christmas
Fruit