Just a trifling

Who could turn down a great towering dessert like this? The view from Master Nearly-Two's point of view. Read on to find out about this delicious and imposing sweet treat....




I am forever grateful for Nigella Lawson. I have been enlightened again and again thanks to Nigella's love of food and willingness to share that love with anyone. Trifle is something I hadn't enjoyed until Nigella showed me how they should be made. Marsala is something I had never even heard of, and now, in spite of being 'not really a drinker', I will lick the spoon I have used to measure the Marsala for a recipe. How lovely then, to make a recipe that combines both of the above. I found a recipe on Taste.com.au, which I used as a bit of guide for quantities before going my own way. My Mum openly re-gifted a panettone to me, as she had no idea what to do with it. I will of course, reREgift some of my trifle back to my parents by way of a thank you, and to show my mother what can be done with this great Italian cake.

The recipe I saw in Taste.com.au used cherries from a jar. Having tried them before for a recipe, I was non-too-keen. Perhaps you can get cherries with a delicious flavour in a jar, but they are not at my supermarket. Seemed sensible, given the low price of fresh cherries that I could make my own cherries in syrup. The biggest pain is pitting the cherries, though it's only a bit monotonous rather than difficult, at least if you have a tool designed for the job. I also happy to have children eager to use such an implement, so you could say I am cheating! Obviously if you have access to good quality jars of cherries (especially if it ain't cherry season) you can omit the cherries in light Marsala syrup - which are delicious I might immodestly add, and would be fab with ice cream....or just as they are really!

Cherry and Marsala Trifle

1 x 700g panettone
300g thickened cream
500g mascarpone
100ml Marsala
50g chocolate, grated

for the cherries in light Marsala syrup

700g cherries, pitted
200g caster sugar
125ml water
125ml Marsala
(or use 2 x 480g jars of morello cherries, pitted, as per original recipe)

Prepare the cherries first; put the sugar, water and Marsala together in a pot on a medium low heat. Stir the mixture gently helping the sugar to dissolve.

When the liquid looks and feels clear of any grainy sugar bits, bring to the boil. Add the cherries and stir about a bit as the syrup returns to the boil. Cook for just a couple of minutes before removing from heat and setting aside to cool. Drain cherries, reserving the syrup.

Assembling the trifle; cut the panettone into disks, remove crust and cut again into four to six squares or rectangles as is your preference. Put a layer of panettone in the base of your trifle bowl and sprinkle over a couple of tablespoons worth of cherries.

Put a second layer of panettone, and another couple of spoons of cherries. Add the final layer of panettone and finish with the cherries. Pour the Marsala into the syrup and pour over the panettone and cherries.

Lightly whip the cream, and then mix the sugar into the mascarpone. Fold the cream through the mascarpone before pouring the mixture over the panettone. Cover the trifle with cling wrap and leave it in the fridge for at least two hours though longer is better so overnight would be great.

When ready to serve, grate the chocolate over the cream.

Serves 8

I guess you don't have to remove the crust of the cake, and if you didn't you'd only need to use about half the cake rather than most of it as I did.

Here are the cherries atop the panettone post syrup drizzling.


Being swathed in creamy mascarpone....