Summer trifle recipe: Making a great custard for a dessert favourite

Trifle doesn’t have to be just a Christmas dessert. Get creative with this sweet favourite.

YOU may have already had your fill of custard at your family festive feast. But don’t let the New Year turn over without giving it a second thought ... perhaps in a delicious summer trifle.

At its simplest, a custard is sweet cream thickened with egg, mostly the yolk but sometimes with the whole egg. Custard can be cooked over the stovetop to make stirred custards that are used as sauces, such as the famous creme anglaise, or as the base for frozen custard, the richest of all ice creams. When the custard is baked in the oven it creates the king of all desserts, the crackly caramel-topped creme brulee, or its naked cousin, the pot de crème.

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WHY CUSTARD IS KING

KAFFIR LIME ICE CREAM

I much prefer a homemade custard, but if time is not on your side I’ll look the other way and suggest there are some good commercial custards ready-made for your trifle.

The same goes for the main body of your trifle, the cake — be it a simple sponge or a more complex cake, such as one of my favourites, Claudia Roden’s Orange and Almond Cake, which adds a delicious tang to my trifles at any time of year.

JEREMY’S SPECIAL SUMMER TRIFLE

I PREFER to make my trifles in individual glasses, but you can just as easily use a single large glass bowl. Create distinct and different layers as you build your trifle, rather than one multifaceted layer.

Serves 6

Special summer trifle. Picture: Dannika Bonser

The basic ingredients for your trifle are:

Whipped cream — allow about ½ cup per person

Custard (use a commercial custard, or see recipe following)

Cake (use a homemade or bought plain sponge, or recipe following)

Fresh berries (optional, and not really required if you use the orange cake recipe)

Jelly (1 or 2 flavours, according to your taste)

Toasted slivered almonds for garnish

CLAUDIA RODEN’S ALMOND CAKE

2 oranges

6 eggs

250g ground almonds

250g sugar

1 tsp baking powder

Butter and sprinkling of flour for the cake tin

Wash and boil the oranges unpeeled, in enough water to cover them, for 90 minutes or until they are very soft. Let them cool, then cut them open, remove the pips and turn them into a puree in a food processor.

Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Add all the other ingredients, mix thoroughly and pour into a buttered and floured cake tin with a removable base if possible.

Bake in a preheated moderately hot 190C (170C fan) oven for about 1 hour. If it is still very wet leave it in the oven for a little longer. Cool in the tin before turning out.

RICH EGG CUSTARD

2 cups milk

2 eggs, beaten

½ cup white sugar

1 pinch salt

1 dash vanilla extract

1 pinch ground nutmeg (optional)

Preheat oven to 165C (145C fan)

Whisk the milk, eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla together in a bowl until completely combined. Pour the mixture into a large ovenproof dish; sprinkle the top with nutmeg. Place that dish in a baking dish and fill the baking dish with enough hot water to reach halfway up the sides of the custard dish.

Bake in the preheated oven until set, about 1 hour. Cool completely.

To assemble your trifle, use a metal ring or an upturned glass to cut the cake into circles to neatly fit into your serving glasses. I aim for two cake circles per serving.

Arrange the ingredients in your glass in layers, starting with a cake circle, then jelly, berries if using, a layer of whipped cream and some custard. Top with a second circle of cake, then finish with some whipped cream garnished with toasted almonds. Refrigerate for an hour or so before serving.

TIPS FOR MAKING THE BEST TRIFLE

PREPARE all the separate components of the trifle before assembling.

DO NOT assemble your trifle too far in advance as the jelly, custard and cream will blend into the cake. An hour in the fridge is ideal.

IF YOU have time, make your cake the day before preparing the trifle.

IF YOU are using a large single dish, check its capacity before buying and preparing the ingredients. Larger trifle bowls will need greater quantities to fill them.

YOU may prefer to spread a plain sponge cake with jam before cutting into pieces.

WHATEVER fruit you use in your trifle, try to match the flavours with the jelly crystals you’re using.

TRY a variation on the orange and almond cake. Chocolate cake, gingerbread, Madeira cake, sponge fingers and biscuits — such as ginger nuts or shortbread — all work well.