Christmas Eve trifle
Try this dessert during the festive season and your family and friends will thank you.
• 6 slices of panettone (Italian Christmas fruit cake)
• Raspberry jam
• 1 tin of peaches in syrup
• 150g peanuts
• 12 Morello or sour cherries in syrup, plus extra to decorate
• 6 tbsp sherry or fresh orange juice
For the pastry cream:
• 2 egg yolks
• 500 ml milk
• 100g caster sugar
• 1 tbsp flour
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Peanut brittle, to decorate
1. To make the pastry cream, whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a pot (away from the heat). The mixture should be light and frothy, and the sugar completely dissolved. Sift in the flour and slowly drizzle in boiling milk. Add the lemon zest and cook on a very low flame, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon, until the cream has thickened. The cream must not reach boiling point.
2. When the cream coats the back of the spoon, remove from heat and discard the lemon peel.
3. Line the base of a trifle bowl with pieces of panettone and douse with sherry or juice. Spread a layer of jam over the moistened panettone pieces, followed by diced peaches, peanuts, cherries and pastry cream.