Following on from the recipe for the Unbaked Chocolate Biscuit Cake (similar to the one being served at the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton) that I featured on this site a few days ago, here is a version of the Heston Blumenthal Royal Wedding Trifle (soon to be sold by Waitrose under the name of The Royal Trifle).
Ingredients
- Between 1/2 - 1 pint of double cream (note: the amount of cream depends on how rich you like your Royal Trifle)
- A teaspoon of saffron (crushed to a fine powder)
- 1lb of strawberries (destalked and halved)
- 1 vanilla pod split lengthways
- 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
- 3 tablespoon of kirsch
- A packet of Amaretti biscuits (crumbled, not crushed)
- A slug of brandy (Heston uses Marc de Champagne)
- 6-8 large meringues (broken roughly)
- a few rose petals (washed thoroughly, make sure also they have never had chemicals sprayed on them)
- Dried strawberries
- Caramel almonds
Method
- Mix the saffron into the cream, and leave in the fridge overnight to infuse
- The next day heat a heavy frying pan, add the vanilla pod and heat for 20 seconds
- Add the strawberries and heat for another 30 seconds
- Add the sugar and gently fold into the strawberries with a large spoon. Heat until the sugar dissolves, then add the kirsch and heat for another 30 seconds.
- Remove the vanilla pod
- Remove the mixture from the pan and place in a clean container. Leave to cool, then place in the fridge to chill for 2-3 hours
- Place the strawberry compote (for that is what the above has made) into a suitable glass trifle serving bowl
- Add the slug of brandy to the biscuits and allow to soak for 10 minutes
- Add the soaked biscuits to the strawberry compote
- Whip the cream until it is stiff and spoon onto the top of the compote
- Pile the broken meringues on top of the cream
- Scatter the dried strawberries, almonds and rose petals on top
Voila!
Note: if you want to vary the look of the Royal Trifle, then do not mix the biscuits with the compote; instead spoon the whipped cream on top of the compote, then scatter the biscuits over the cream before topping off with the meringues.
The "look" of the Royal Trifle is very much up to the artistic licence of the chef!
Don't forget to visit Accountants Can Cook which contains anecdotes of my travels around the world, together with 120 of my favourite recipes amassed during 40 years of travelling, eating and cooking.
