I managed to make most of this GLORIOUS, in fact, hands down the BEST trifle I've ever made. while "mostly" sitting down (with help from the children,
- @aimeludick, @matthew-williams, and @merenludick, *
and of course @zakludick too!).
The only thing I didn't do standing up was whipping the cream and adding the final decorations to the trifle: which hurt like hell but it was SO worth it. And I made three of them 😱. Some of you may know the story behind it but I have a fear of running out of trifle, so I ALWAYS make sure we have loads! 😜
So, I suppose it's hilarious that I am posting so much about watching my weight but I just can't stay out of the kitchen! Especially at Christmas time! And besides, calories don't count at Christmas! Santa said so 😜 Never trust a skinny chef, they say! Hehehe. I have also discovered a hack that saves my back for things that would ordinarily require a lot of attention on the stovetop; like ganache, gravy, pancakes, or even frying eggs, and standing in one place at a time (which I can only do for a few minutes before my back gives out). It's the gas stove!!!!! I put it next to me at the dining room table so I can watch it like a hawk for safety's sake!
This year, and with the help of @zakludick, who found a special on fresh cherries - my dream come true!; that literally made this the best trifle I have ever made! It was also my first time not using canned fruit at all so it was a bit nerve-wrecking, to say the least.
We also had massive drama with the jelly that refused to set. This set me back an entire day. Now, do remember, trifle needs to set/ settle for AT LEAST 24 hours before adding final decorations and serving. Losing a day almost cost me my trifle! Although we'd bought all the ingredients and pitted all the cherries, so we wouldn't have lost it completely, it just would have been late for Christmas, which would still be very sad! I wanted to cry!!!
Luckily for me, I have an amazing husband @zakludick who miraculously made new jelly in under two hours on the morning of the 24th! I woke up at 5 am on the 24th after an awful night's sleep
of worrying about trifle (don't laugh at me🤣🤦♀️) praying that the first round of jelly-which was a total dud, had somehow managed to magically set. It hadn't. So @zakludick ran to the shop and bought more instant jelly and we used ice blocks instead of cold water to get it to set faster and it worked like a bomb (Thank you Google)!
@zakludick came to the rescue again when I tried to revive my chocolate from the gingerbread cookies, that liquid fell over in the fridge and drenched the pot, and drove to the shop (again) to get more chocolate and cream so that I could make ganache for the decorating at the end. So worth it though! OMG😱❤️❤️❤️😍😍😍
Ok, so now that you know the back story behind the struggle, let me tell you how this utterly perfect and decadent trifle was made!
Tools
- A chopping board for trifle sponge and chopping chocolate.
- Something to store cherries in once "pipped" - I used a pot
- Something to store cherry pips in if you feel like trying to grown your own cherry tree).
- A sharp kitchen knife for cutting chocolate into smaller pieces for ganache
3 bowls for the actual trifle - A gas stove for melting chocolate
- An electric hand beater for whipping cream
- a plastic bowl for whipping the cream in
REMEMBER THAT CHERRIES STAIN LIKE HELL! Dress appropriately and be willing to chop your nails off (luckily, I could also paint them red - as it's a Christmas color - but I fear I will have to wait for the stains to grow out🤦♀️).
Ingredients
- I didn't weigh them but they looked like at least 1.5 kgs of fresh cherries
- chocolate sponges x 3 (ready-made from the local bakery)
- Chocolate-flavored custard (tastes like chocolate mousse but is pourable and still retains some vanilla essence from the original custard
- 4 packets of instant red jelly (strawberry, raspberry, or cherry - whatever)
- 1 lt fresh cream (keep as cold as possible until use - otherwise it won't whip!).
- 1 x large bar of dark chocolate
- Walnuts/ Pecan nuts 300-500g
- Fresh Mint
- Berry Flavoured Amarula Cream Liqueur
Method:
**You should ideally start making trifle 4 days before you need it. You need a day for the jelly, a day for the layering, and ideally 24 to 48 hours of soaking time. **
Day one: Jelly x 4 pkts
I cheat here. A lot of people pour the jelly straight onto their layers for neater jelly layers but I am always paranoid that the jelly will soak into my sponge or not set (this year I was proved right!). You can then spoon it on when you are layering and believe me, no one will know the difference!
You can follow the instructions on the box, but for faster setting time, add ice blocks instead of cold water!
Day Two: Layering
It's like making lasagne, except you start with the cake 1st to give it structure for serving.
1.Cut the sponge to size (and into pieces if required) and line the bottom of the serving bowls.
- Drench the sponge in Berry Amarula!
Amarula in general is my secret weapon. It can be replaced by any other cream liqueur if it's not available in your country. I do HIGHLY recommend doing your best to source it though. Even if you order it online) It's so worth it!
- It's then followed by fresh, pitted cherries - save some for decorating!
- Then spoon on the jelly
- lastly, add a nice layer of chocolate custard: careful not to cover the color of the red cherries and red custard when pouring.
- Refrigerate and let it soak and settle for 24-48 hours.
Decorating/ Final Touches
Only do this when you are absolutely ready to serve!
Ganache
Melt a large bar of chocolate on a low heat with about 50 to 80
ml of cream. Leave to rest/ Cool.Whip remaining cream until quite stiff, but don't make butter! lol. Spoon onto the top of the trifles and smooth out to ensure good coverage. You should have a +/- 2cm layer of cream per trifle
- Drizzle the ganache all over the cream in whatever design suits your fancy.
- Add cherries left over from earlier around the outside of the dish
- Sprinkle generously with walnuts/pecan nuts
- finish off by arranging a few cherries in the center of each trifle, with an added sprig of mint for color!
And there you have it! The best trifle I have ever made! Also, thank goodness we were all so stuffed from Christmas dinner and I was WAY too tired to melt chocolate and whip cream, that we only ate the trifle the next day, which gave me the extra soaking time I needed!
And then, like the fantastic mother I am 😍🤣😜, we all had trifle for breakfast while opening presents!
First soldiers down 😂😜