This cherry trifle with homemade custard brings together soft Madeira sponge, fragrant poached cherries, silky lemon verbena custard and a light crème fraîche topping. Each spoonful tastes bright, creamy and gently boozy, with toasted almonds adding a delicate crunch to finish.
Prep: less than 30 mins
Cook: 10 to 30 mins
Serves: 2
Dietary: Pregnancy-friendly, Vegetarian
By Matt Tebbutt
From Saturday Kitchen Recipes
Cherry trifle with homemade custard is a rich, indulgent dessert with fruit, sponge, cream and custard, so the overall Nutri-Score is D. It contains calories from cream, sugar, sponge and liquor, with fruit providing some fibre and natural flavour.
Nutrition note: This recipe includes fruit, dairy, alcohol and added sugar, so it suits a treat-style dessert rather than an everyday lighter option.
Ingredients
- 300ml/10fl oz rosé wine
- 50–60g/1¾–2¼oz caster sugar
- ½ vanilla pod
- 500g/1lb 2oz fresh cherries, pitted
- 1 tsp cornflour
- 250ml/9fl oz whole milk
- 100ml/3½fl oz double cream
- 10g/⅓oz lemon verbena
- 3 medium free-range egg yolks
- 40g/1½oz soft brown sugar
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- 100ml/3½fl oz double cream
- 1 tbsp icing sugar
- 2 tbsp crème fraîche
- 50ml/2fl oz cherry liquor
- 1 Madeira sponge, cut into 5cm fingers
- 1 tbsp toasted almonds
- poached cherries, reserved from above
Customise
- Rosé wine can swap for white grape juice for an alcohol-free version.
- Lemon verbena can swap for fresh mint or a strip of lemon zest if needed.
- Crème fraîche can swap for thick Greek yoghurt for a sharper topping.
- Madeira sponge can swap for sponge fingers or leftover plain sponge cake.
Method
- Start with the cherries. Put the rosé wine, caster sugar and vanilla pod in a saucepan and bring them to the boil. Add the cherries and poach them gently for about 10 minutes, until they soften and release plenty of juice. This is the first stage, and you can let the fruit cool while you move on to the custard.
- Thicken the syrup. Tip the cherries through a sieve set over a bowl, so you keep both the fruit and the poaching liquid. Return the liquid to the saucepan and simmer it until it tastes a little more concentrated. Mix the cornflour with a splash of cold water, whisk it into the simmering syrup, and cook until it thickens nicely.
- Infuse the custard base. Put the milk, cream and lemon verbena in a saucepan and heat it gently until hot, but not boiling. Take it off the heat and leave it to infuse for 30 minutes. While that sits, you can organise your serving bowl and get everything ready for assembly.
- Finish the custard. Strain the infused milk into a clean saucepan and bring it back to the boil. In a heatproof bowl, whisk the egg yolks, soft brown sugar and cornflour until smooth. Slowly pour in the hot milk, whisking all the time, then return everything to the saucepan and cook over a low heat for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until it thickens into a smooth custard.
- Cool it down. Strain the custard into a bowl and leave it to cool completely. This makes the trifle easier to layer and helps keep the sponge from turning soggy too quickly.
- Whip the cream. Whisk the double cream and icing sugar until it thickens, then fold in the crème fraîche. Keep it light and airy, because that gives the finished cherry trifle with homemade custard a lovely soft top.
- Build the trifle. Put the Madeira sponge fingers in the base of a serving bowl and spoon over the cherry liquor. Add the poached cherries, then spoon over the cooled custard and finish with the cream layer.
- Garnish and serve. Top with the reserved poached cherries and toasted almonds. Serve the cherry trifle with homemade custard straight away, or chill it briefly if you want the layers to settle a little more.
Tips: Keep the custard moving as it cooks so it stays smooth. If you want a stronger cherry flavour, reduce the poaching liquid a little longer before adding the cornflour.