A boozy, fruity trifle is a classic way to end a Christmas feast, and this one is surprisingly simple to make. Sparkling moscato is transformed into jelly, then topped with dense almond cake and clouds of mascarpone – all that’s needed then are slivers of fresh fruit. We’ve gone for delicate white peach, but a pile of white cherries on top would also work beautifully with these flavours.
Ingredients
Moscato jelly
Almond cake
Method
Main
1.For moscato jelly, bring moscato, sugar and 250ml water to the boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve sugar, then remove from heat. Squeeze excess water from gelatine and stir into moscato mixture to dissolve. Pour into a wide 2-litre serving bowl and refrigerate until set (3-4 hours).
2.Meanwhile, for almond cake, preheat oven to 180C, and grease a 22cm x 33cm cake tin and line with baking paper. Whisk eggwhites and a pinch of salt in an electric mixer until soft peaks form (2-3 minutes), then gradually add caster sugar and whisk until glossy (2-3 minutes). Fold icing sugar, almond meal and flour into eggwhite, spoon into cake tin and bake until centre springs back when lightly pressed (20-25 minutes). Cool completely in tin, then cut cake to fit snugly on top of jelly, brush with liqueur and stand to soak (15 minutes). Cake will keep for up to 3 days stored in an airtight container.
3.Whisk yolks, sugar and 1 tbsp water in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water until thick and mixture holds a trail (5-6 minutes). Remove from heat. Whisk mascarpone and milk in a separate bowl to just combine (don’t over-whisk or the mascarpone will become grainy), fold egg mixture into mascarpone, then pile on top of cake and refrigerate trifle until required (no longer than a couple of hours). Serve topped with sliced white peaches.
