Gingerbread and black cherry trifle
A twist on a traditional trifle, with gingerbread and juicy cherries, topped with crunchy honeycomb.
Ingredients
For the gingerbread
- 150g/5½oz plain flour
- 1 tbsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
- pinch salt
- 100g/3½oz golden syrup
- 100g /3½oz black treacle
- 60g/2¼ oz soft dark brown sugar
- 75g/2⅔oz butter
- 125ml/4fl oz milk
- 1 free-range egg, beaten
For the honeycomb
- butter, for greasing
- 200g/7oz caster sugar
- 5 tbsp golden syrup
- 2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
For the trifle
- 250g/9oz pitted sweet cherries (fresh or frozen)
- 2 tbsp caster sugar
- 3 tbsp sweet sherry
- 2–3 tbsp black cherry jam
- 100g/3½oz amaretti biscuits
- 500ml/18fl oz custard
- 250ml/9fl oz double cream
- 3–4 pieces stem ginger, very finely sliced
Method
To make the gingerbread, preheat the oven to 170C/150C/Gas 3. Line a 900g/2lb loaf tin with baking paper.
Sift the flour, ground ginger, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a bowl and whisk together.
Put the golden syrup, black treacle, sugar and butter in a saucepan and heat gently until melted. Whisk to combine, then add the milk, followed by the egg. Whisk in the flour mixture to form a smooth batter. Pour into the prepared tin then bake for 40–45 minutes until well risen and springy to touch. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin.
To make the honeycomb, butter a 20cm/8in square tin. Put the sugar and golden syrup into a deep saucepan and stir over a gentle heat until the sugar has dissolved. When no grains of sugar remain, turn up the heat a little and simmer until you have an amber-coloured caramel. (CAUTION: boiling sugar is extremely hot. Handle very carefully). Quickly remove from the heat, tip in the bicarbonate of soda and beat with a wooden spoon until it has dissolved and the mixture is foaming. Immediately scrape into the prepared tin. The mixture will continue bubbling in the tin. Leave to set for 1–1½ hours until the honeycomb is hard and ready to crumble or snap into chunks.
To make the trifle, sprinkle the cherries with the sugar and leave to stand for 30 minutes. Strain the cherries – the sugar will have created a syrup around them – and mix the syrup with the sherry.
Cut off a piece of cake weighing about 250g/9oz and thinly slice. Spread half of the slices with the jam, then sandwich together with the remaining slices. Cut into fingers and arrange over the base of a trifle bowl.
Pour half of the cherry syrup over the cake. Top with the cherries, then add the amaretti biscuits. Pour over the remaining sherry and syrup.
Pour the custard over the trifle.
Whisk the cream to the soft peak stage and spread it evenly over the custard. Arrange the sliced stem ginger over the top. Chill for at least an hour before serving.
Decorate with broken honeycomb.
