The Best Summer Dessert

This would have to be one of my favourite summer desserts – the Trifle. It’s in competition with the Crumble, but when it’s really hot, well, it’s a winner. The traditional trifle is a sponge or genoise, jelly, custard, cream and fruit. When it’s really hot, and the fruit is gorgeous, I find the custard and cream a little too rich. I prefer my Almond Custard Cream which has the added bonus of being dairy free. For the cake? As noted, a sponge (from Wholefood)  or genoise will be fine, but any simple plain cake (Spring Cake – Wholefood) will work. When I’m feeling particularly energetic, I will make a killer strawberry jelly from scratch – that is cooking up strawberries and getting all their juices. I sweeten the juice to taste with organic raw sugar (why sugar and not some other whole sweetener ? – because I can use a very small amount and get a clear taste of fruit) add agar and dissolve it, then add a little Cassis. Other times, it’s simply some sponge, a drizzle with alcohol, some fruit, and custard cream. When I was little, Mum did it in beautiful individual glasses and called it a Parfait… Do give this a try – it’s so delicious, not too sweet and a wonderful way to celebrate all that is summer. I’ll give you the quick run down, and the recipe for the Almond Custard Cream to get you started.

1 cup blanched almonds

1 1/2 teaspoons agar powder

70 ml maple syrup

1 vanilla bean (or 1 teaspoon natural vanilla extract, or vanilla paste)

1 1/2 tablespoons (note this is for a 20ml tablespoon) kudzu or cornstarch

1/4 cup coconut milk

Put the blanched almonds and 3 1/2 cups water in a blender. Blend well. Peg 4 layers of muslin onto a jug or bowl and pour the almond mix through. Squeeze out the remaining milk from the muslin. This should give you 3 cups almond milk.

Measure out 2 1/2 cups almond milk into a saucepan and add the maple syrup. Whisk in the agar to stop it clumping. Lay the vanilla bean flat on a chopping board and, using a small sharp knife, cut down the length of the bean. Open the bean up and flatten to collect the seeds – add these to the milk. (Or, just add 1 teaspoon vanilla paste – much quicker, but !!! not as nice).

Stir together and bring very gently to the boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.  Stir frequently as agar loves to sink to the bottom and stick as it dissolves.

Add the kudzu to a small bowl and mix to a slurry with 1/4 cup almond milk. When the agar is dissolved, remove the milk mix from the stove and whisk in the almond milk and kudzu. Return to the stove and stir constantly as it comes to a boil. Remove from heat and pour into a clean bowl. Place some parchment paper on the surface and refrigerate until cool.

When set, put what will be a fairly solid mix back in the blender. To this, add the remaining almond milk and coconut milk. Blend for a few minutes until silky smooth. 

Making the Trifle:

Arrange pieces of sponge at the base and side of the bowl. Drizzle with alcohol of choice – sherry, cassis, kahlua are all good – you don’t need too much. Top with fruit – currently, I’m using strawberries and peaches. You can either just layer it in, or arrange it so it can be seen through the glass. If using jelly, add pieces of that also and drizzle with a little almond custard cream. Do that all again and finish with a good thick layer of almond custard cream. Top with a sprinkle of lightly toasted, blanched almonds. Enjoy!