Strawberry & redcurrant syllabub trifle

A trifle for those who say they don’t like trifle! With no divisive jelly layer and a delicately floral sweet wine flavour in the syllabub, it sings of summer.

Ingreadient

• 600g No.1 Speciality Strawberries, hulled and quartered
• 125g Cooks’ Ingredients Redcurrants, stalks removed
• 100g caster sugar
• 50ml Muscat Beaumes de Venise or Sauternes
• 50ml dry sherry, Marsala or Madeira
• 1 lemon, juice
• 2½ tbsp cornflour
• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
• 400ml whole milk
• 250g Waitrose Madeira Loaf Cake
• 65ml Muscat Beaumes de Venise or Sauternes
• 400ml double cream
• 25g caster sugar
• 4 amaretti biscuits, crumbled, to decorate (optional)
• Redcurrant stalks, to decorate (optional)

Step by step

1. Gently stir all the ingredients for the fruit together in a mixing bowl, then cover and leave to macerate at room temperature for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally
2. Meanwhile, make the custard. Mix the egg yolks, sugar, cornflour and vanilla together in a mixing bowl with a small whisk. Heat the milk in a saucepan until steaming.
3. Pour the steaming milk into the egg mixture in a thin stream, whisking continuously until combined. Transfer back to the pan, set over a medium-high heat and bring to steaming again, stirring continuously. Cook without boiling for 3-5 minutes until the custard thickens. It’s ready when a spoon dragged through the custard leaves a gap along the base of the pan for a second. Pour into a bowl, cover with baking parchment directly touching the surface and leave to cool. Chill for 2 hours.
4. To assemble, slice the Madeira cake into 8 pieces and arrange in the base of a 2L trifle bowl. Pour over the macerated fruit and juices, scraping out any leftover sugar, then spoon over the custard. Chill for 15 minutes until the custard is cold.
5. For the syllabub, stir the wine, cream and sugar together, then whip to soft peaks. Gently top the custard with the cream, swirl it into pretty shapes, then chill for 1-2 hours (see tip). To decorate, crumble over the amaretti biscuits, if using, and arrange redcurrant stalks on top, if liked.