Summer Berry Trifle

Summer Berry Trifle

The ultimate summer dessert - layers of delicious fruity and creamy flavours

Ingredients:

Jelly:

• 1, 135g pack of raspberry jelly
• 100g chopped strawberries

Custard:

• 300ml whole milk
• 150ml double cream
• 1 tsp vanilla paste or essence
• 6 large egg yolks
• 55g caster sugar
• 40g cornflour

Sponge:

• 125g caster sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 125g plain flour
• 150g raspberry jam

Layer of Berries:

• 200g summer berries (chopped strawberries, raspberries, blueberries)

Whipped Cream:

• 450ml double cream, whipped to soft peaks

Decoration:

• Handful of berries and mint leaves

Method:

1. Start with the jelly becasue this will take a few hours to set. Follow the instructions on the packet to dissolve the cubes in boiling water, leaving to cool. Pour into the bottom of your trifle dish, along with the chopped strawberries, and leave to set in the fridge.
2. For the custard, start by whisking the egg yolks and sugar on high until pale and thick. Then whisk in the cornflour.
3. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, bring the milk, double cream and vanilla to the boil, and then slowly, while whisking, pour the hot liquid into the sugar and egg mix.
4. Return the mixture back to the saucepan over a low heat, and stir continuously until the custard has thickened enough that you can see the bottom of the pan while stirring.
5. Pour into a bowl, cover with cling film and leave to cool until needed. 
6. For the sponge, pre-heat the oven to 180 C (fan)
7. Whisk the eggs and sugar on high until very pale and thick, and keep going until it is thick enough that it leaves a trail in the bowl when it falls off the whisk.
8. In two parts, sift in the flour and carefully fold it into the mixture without beating out the air.
9. When there are no lumps of flour left, pour the mixture into a greased and lined tin approx 33x23cm.
10. Bake for 10-12 minutes until risen and lightly golden. Leave to cool for a few minutes in the tin, then turn out onto another sheet of baking paper and peel off the baking paper. 
11. Here you have two options (I realised that if I made a swiss roll, it would have been a bit too big for my trifle dish to see all the layers) so either cut out 2 circles to fit inside your dish (as seen here), using the jam to sandwich together, or roll up the sponge into a swiss roll, fill with the jam and use this instead!
12. To assemble, layer up your sponges on top of the jelly, followed by custard and berries and then top with the whipped double cream. 
13. Garnish with fruit and enjoy!