Blackberry Amaretto Trifle
Blackberries and custard are a known winning formula – usually paired with apple in a crumble and usually associated with damp autumn Sundays. But the wild blackberries that infiltrate my garden are already big and fat and it’s not even August and it’s certainly not damp, so, given that the loganberries are still in full swing and are providing enough jam to put Bonne Maman out of business, I am left with no alternative but to make trifle.
Blackberries pair well with other fruits and flavours that would be equally at home in a trifle; raspberry, white chocolate, peach, lemon, coconut…but this recipe features almonds, both in the form of amaretti biscuits in the base, and then with a good dousing of Amaretto liqueur.
A home-made custard is non-negotiable I’m afraid – there’s a time and place for Bird’s but this is not it; custard is trifle and trifle is custard and there’s no getting away from it. Just take it nice and slow, easy-does-it, and everything’ll be alright.
Ingredients
(serves 6)
For the custard
6 x eggs yolks
75g caster sugar
4 x level teaspoons cornflour
550ml double cream
For the filling
250g amaretti biscuits
50ml amaretto liqueur
50ml medium sherry
750g blackberries
200g caster sugar
For the topping
400ml double cream
70g caster sugar
40g flaked almonds
Start with the custard to allow time for it to cool. Heat the cream gently in a pan until it just starts to plop and simmer, then take it off the heat.
Add the sugar to the egg yolks* in a bowl large enough to take all the cream and whisk together; add the cornflour and whisk again to combine, then ever so slowly dribble in the hot cream stirring continuously.
Rinse out the pan and wipe dry with kitchen towel, then pour the custard back in and return the pan to a low heat.
Stir the custard continuously until it thickens considerably, ten minutes would be about right. The longer you cook the custard the thicker it will be, but don’t let it get too hot or start to simmer. Once the custard is good and thick, pour it into a clean bowl and lay a piece of clingfilm directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Leave to cool and refrigerate as soon as it reaches room temperature.
Put half the blackberries in a pan with 100ml of water and set over a low heat. Once the juices start to run, add the sugar and let it dissolve before turning up the heat to high. Cook the blackberries for 3 minutes then remove the pan from the heat and pour them into a clean bowl and allow to cool to room temperature. Add the remaining blackberries.
Once the custard and the blackberries are cool, line the base of your trifle dish with amaretti biscuits. It is possible to cut them to shape using a small serrated knife to make them fit better.
Mix the sherry with the amaretto and pour/sprinkle over the biscuits. Swirl the bowl around and allow the alcohol to be fully absorbed before you continue with the topping.
Scoop the blackberries from the syrup and top the biscuits with the fruit, then drizzle over some of the syrupy juices.
Spoon the custard carefully on top of the fruit and level the top. Put the trifle in the fridge.
To toast the flaked almonds, heat a small frying pan over a medium heat, add the almonds and toss them about to colour evenly until golden. Tip them onto a plate to cool.
Whisk the cream with the sugar until soft peak stage, then use to top the trifle and scatter over the flaked almonds.
*If you add sugar to egg yolks too soon in advance, the eggs will start to ‘burn’ and produce hard orange bits around the edges.