When I saw the Tipsy Trifle recipe in The Australian Gourmet Traveller magazine, I just couldn’t resist making it for Christmas lunch. My little twist (there is always a twist….), is substituting Chambord instead of brandy. I also omitted the dark fruit mixture and just had the plain cake and raspberries.
The other good thing about this recipe is that it was not a last minute dessert. I need to make it ahead and thus saves the stress of having to make one more thing on Christmas day.
Ingredients:
Jelly:
500 gm frozen raspberries
400 gm caster sugar
Juice of 1 orange and 1 lemon
5 titanium-strength gelatine leaves, softened in cold water for 5 minutes
Cream:
750 gm crème fraîche
300 ml thickened cream
80 gm pure icing sugar, sieved
50 ml Chambord, plus extra for drizzling
Scraped seeds of 2 vanilla beans
500 gm fresh raspberries
Madeira cake:
200 gm softened butter
165 gm (¾ cup) caster sugar
3 eggs
150 gm (1 cup) plain flour
30 gm almond meal
¾ tsp baking powder
50 ml buttermilk
30 ml Chambord
Method:
Jelly:
Bring frozen raspberries, sugar, citrus juices and 600ml cold water to the boil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Cook until fruit is pulpy (10-15 minutes), then strain through a muslin-lined sieve into a bowl (do not press on solids). Transfer 250ml raspberry liquid to a clean pan over low heat, squeeze gelatine to remove excess water, add to pan and stir until gelatine dissolves (1-2 minutes). Return gelatine mixture to remaining raspberry mixture, stir to combine then transfer to a 1.5-litre container and refrigerate until set (overnight).
Madeira cake:
Preheat oven to 160ºC. Beat butter and sugar in an electric mixer until pale and creamy (4-5 minutes), scrape down sides of bowl and add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour, almond meal, baking powder and ½ tsp salt in a separate bowl, add to butter mixture with buttermilk and beat to just combine. Add Chambord, beat to combine, then spoon into a 25cm x 11cm loaf tin, buttered and lined with baking paper. Smooth top, bake until golden and an inserted skewer withdraws clean (50 minutes-1 hour), cool in tin for 10 minutes, then cool completely on a wire rack.
Cream:
Whisk creme fraîche, cream, icing sugar, Chambord and vanilla seeds in an electric mixer until soft peaks form (2-3 minutes). Refrigerate until required.
Assemble:
Scatter one-third of the fresh raspberries in a large serving bowl, then spoon half the jelly over. Thickly slice cake, crumble half over the jelly and drizzle with Chambord. Spoon half the crème fraîche mixture over, then repeat layering. Cover and refrigerate for flavours to develop (overnight). Serve topped with extra raspberries.
