chocolate and cherry blackforest trifle

I have been (quietly) obsessing over trifle for ages, in particular Nigella’s chocolate cherry variant. Last weekend I finally got round to making it – well, a version of it – and it was such a roaring success I thought it was worth sharing. The original contains a plethora of ingredients, including cherry jam, cherry brandy and 8 egg yolks, but I couldn’t be faffed with all that so decided to simplify it somewhat and it worked a treat.

If you have a nice trifle dish, it does enhance the whole shebang and allow the layers to be seen in their full glory, but frankly no one’s going to be complaining about your tableware once they taste this.

Chocolate and Cherry Trifle, adapted from Nigella Lawson’s Feast

1 Waitrose double chocolate loaf cake, or similar (about 340g)
2 x 425g cans of black cherries in light syrup
a splash of brandy
around 1kg ready-made custard (I used soya custard, which worked very well)
200g good quality dark chocolate
300ml double cream

Cut the chocolate loaf cake into slices and use them to line the bottom of your dish. Drain one can of cherries and add a splash of brandy to the juice…hey presto – cherry brandy! Sprinkle some of this liquid liberally over the cake slices (you don’t want them sodden, just pleasantly moist).

Drain the second can of cherries, reserving the juice if you wish, and then arrange all but 5 of the cherries on top of the cake slices.

Put the custard in a bowl. Set aside a piece of the dark chocolate for grating later, then melt the rest, either in a bowl over a pan of simmering water or in a microwave, and stir it into the custard. Pour this over the cherries (enjoy watching it ooze between them!) and smooth the top.

Whip the cream until soft peaks form. Gently spoon it over the chocolate custard layer. Top with the remaining cherries and some grated dark chocolate.

Dive in and savour the retro blackforest gateau vibe.

Serves 6.