Tipsy Trifle

The Editor -

It isn't Christmas without a trifle and this "tipsy" clementine and Prosecco centrepiece is the perfect one to choose!

Ingredients

For the jelly layer
7 leaves platinum-grade leaf gelatine
900ml fresh clementine or orange juice
100g caster sugar
Prosecco
1 lemon swiss roll, about 230g

For the custard
8 clementines
300 ml whole milk
300 ml double cream
6 large egg yolks
75 g caster sugar
1 1/2 tbsp.cornflour
2 tsp. vanilla bean paste

To finish
150ml double cream
250g mascarpone
100g icing sugar, sifted
75 ml prosecco
2 tbsp. toasted flaked almonds
Orange sprinkles, to serve (optional)

Directions

  1. Make the jelly: soak the gelatine leaves in a bowl of cold water for 5min. Meanwhile, heat the clementine/orange juice and sugar in a medium pan, stirring until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat, lift up gelatine and squeeze out excess water. Stir into the hot liquid to dissolve. Pour into a jug, add the prosecco and set aside to cool until lukewarm.
  2. Cut the swiss roll into 1½cm-thick slices and arrange in the base and slightly up the sides of a 2 litre trifle dish. Carefully spoon ⅓ of the cooled (but still liquid) jelly mixture over the slices, allowing them to soak it up before adding more. Chill for 2hr, or until just set. Cover and chill remaining jelly separately.
  3. Meanwhile, make the custard. Finely grate the zest of the clementines and mix in a medium pan with the milk and double cream. Heat gently until just simmering, remove from heat and leave to infuse for 10min, then strain into a jug, pressing to extract all the flavour from the zest. Discard zest.
  4. In a bowl, beat together egg yolks, caster sugar, cornflour and vanilla until combined. Pour in warm cream mixture, whisking constantly (reserve jug). Return mixture to the pan, and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened (don’t let it boil). Pour back into jug, lay clingfilm directly on the surface of the custard and allow to cool, then chill for 1hr, until cold.
  5. Peel and segment the zested clementines, removing as much pith as possible. Spoon ½ the chilled custard over the set sponge layer, then arrange ½ the clementine segments gently on top, starting with a ring around the edge of the bowl. Give the jelly a stir – it will have started to set but should still be soft. If it has set firm, put the jug in a bowl of hot water and stir to loosen slightly. Spoon ½ the remaining jelly over the clementines, then chill trifle for 30min-1hr. Leave remaining jelly at room temperature.
  6. Repeat custard, clementine and jelly layers, chill for another 30min-1hr.
  7. To serve, whisk cream, mascarpone and icing sugar until smooth and combined. Add prosecco and whisk briefly (don’t overwhisk – you don’t want it to be stiff), then spoon on to the trifle. Top with the toasted almonds and orange sprinkles (if using) and serve.