If people in days gone by knew what was good for them, they would have
followed a diet of thin soups and gruel at this time of year as they got
ready for the festive season.
Just think of all those trifles that would have come their way as December 25
approached. Layer upon layer of indulgence: the Naples biscuits, macaroons,
sack (a type of fortifed wine), custard and syllabub (a mousse made by
whipping cream with sweet wine, brandy, sugar and, usually, lemon), not to
mention the sweetmeats, jelly and jam.
In a charmingly eccentric little tome Trifle (Prospect Books), by Helen Saberi
and Alan Davidson, the celebrated 20th century food writer M.F.K. Fisher
describes trifle as “a monumental chilled pudding made from sponge cake,
macaroons, jam, brandy or whatever liquor seems indicated, custards, whipped
cream...” Phew. Tighten those corsets.
But it doesn't have to be that way. Trifles have been evolving since their
18th-century conception by the cookery writer Hannah Glasse. Now we can
tailor them to suit our needs and make sure that we don't greet January
several kilos heavier than we were in December. They can be just as gorgeous
and over the top without all that cream and fat. Especially if we play on
the jelly component, the oh-so fashionable pudding of the moment.
Apple snow is a mousse of innocence, one of the first dishes children try
their hands at. Essentially a dairy-free mousse that relies on whipped egg
whites to add the necessary froth, it makes a great foundation for other
puds. In a trifle it will stand in for any creamy layers such as syllabub or
custard. It has the same intensity as a rhubarb fool and what it may lack in
dairy culture, it makes up for in flavour. Apparently a Russian version is
known as “air pie”, which seems to take food description to its logical
conclusion.
It is similar to “apple hedgehog”, the Victorian pud that is a cross between a
baked Alaska and apple snow. It's a pyramid of whole poached apples
smothered with a purée of apples, in turn smothered with meringue and then
studded with almonds and baked. It sounds wonderfully dramatic and over the
top, especially within an age of such austerity, but a lovely idea for a
light but spectacular end to dinner.
Chestnut purée is one of my great Christmas store cupboard standbys. It tends
to come ready-sweetened on the Continent and is so sugary it can stand in
for jam on your toast. So it's a relief that it's more usually sold
unsweetened here, which allows the flavour of the chestnuts to shine through
more clearly.
I still make my mother's chocolate chestnut log. It's a tin of purée whizzed
with melted butter and dark chocolate, sugar and vanilla, and moulded into a
log. Chestnut purée makes a great base for mousses, and there's no need to
add butter or cream. The recipe for sweet chesnut trifle below shows how you
can make a fluffy mousse by using egg yolks to enrich it and then folding in
the whipped whites. And perhaps just a little whipped cream on top in homage
to our ancestors.
Thomasina Miers is away
Serves 8-12
For the jelly
1.2l fresh orange juice, sieved
6 gelatine leaves, cut into broad strips (or 1 sachets powdered gelatine, see
below)
2 oranges
2 tbsp Cointreau or Grand Marnier
8 amaretti, coarsely crumbled
For the chocolate mousse
250g dark chocolate (about 50 per cent cocoa), broken into pieces
6 medium organic eggs
Milk or dark chocolate shavings, or curls to decorate (optional)
Pour the orange juice into a largish saucepan, bring to the boil and reduce by
a third to 800ml. Make up the volume with more orange juice if you
over-reduce it. Place the gelatine strips in a bowl, cover with cold water
and soak for 5 minutes, then drain. Pour a little of the reduced orange
juice over the gelatine and stir until it dissolves, then add this back to
the rest of the orange juice. Pour into a 20cm trifle bowl, 9cm deep or
equivalent, and leave to cool.
Cut the skin and pith off the oranges and run a sharp knife between the
segments. Scatter these over the surface of the jelly (they should float).
Cover and chill overnight. Sprinkle the liqueur over the amaretti and set
aside.
To make the chocolate mousse, gently melt the chocolate in a bowl set over a
pan with a little simmering water in it. Beat in the egg yolks. Whisk the
egg whites in a large bowl until stiff. Fold a couple of spoons into the
chocolate and egg yolk mixture to loosen it, then gradually fold in the
remainder. Scatter the amaretti over the jelly, then smooth the chocolate
mousse on top. Cover and chill for at least two hours. Scatter over
chocolate shavings before serving.
If using powdered gelatine: Sprinkle the gelatine on to about 6 tbsp of
boiling water in a small bowl, leave for 3-4 minutes and stir to dissolve.
If the gelatine has not completely dissolved, stand the bowl in another bowl
of just-boiled water for a few minutes, then stir again, and stir into warm
jelly solution.
Snowy date trifle
Serves 8
750g Bramley apples, peeled, cored and sliced
75g caster sugar
150g Medjool dates, stoned 100ml apple juice, plus another 2 to 4 tbsp
6 sponge fingers
2 tbsp Calvados
3 organic egg whites
Baby meringues
Icing sugar for dusting or snowy sprinkles to decorate
Put the apples in a medium-size saucepan with the sugar and 100ml water. Bring
to the boil, cover and cook over a low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring
halfway, until the apples collapse to a mush. Purée in a liquidiser,
transfer to a bowl and leave to cool.
Whizz the dates with 100ml of apple juice. Cover the base of a 20cm trifle
bowl with 6cm of sponge fingers, sugared side down. Either combine and
sprinkle over 2 tbsp of apple juice and 2 of Calvados, or just 4 tbsp of
juice. Spread the date purée on top. Whisk the egg whites until stiff and
fold into the cooled apple purée in two goes. Pour this over the trifle base
and decorate with meringues. Cover and chill for at least half a day. If you
make this a day in advance, decorate with meringues closer to the time. Dust
with icing sugar or scatter over snowy sprinkles before serving.
Sweet chestnut trifle
Serves 6-8
Pears
300ml water
125g caster sugar
1 vanilla pod, slit, or 1 tsp vanilla extract
2 Comice pears
4 tbsp Armagnac
Trifle
100g amaretti
1 x 435g tin unsweetened chestnut purée
3 medium organic eggs, separated
50g caster sugar
150g trifle sponges
Cocoa for dusting
Marrons glacé or crystallised ginger
To poach the pears, place the water, sugar and vanilla pod or extract in a
small saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
Peel and halve the pears, submerge them, cut side up, in the syrup. Cover
with a circle of baking paper and poach over a low heat until they are
tender.
Cool them in the syrup, then remove and drain thoroughly on a double layer of
kitchen paper. Quarter, core and finely slice. Mix 5 tbsp of the syrup with
the armagnac. Break the amaretti into a shallow bowl and pour half this
solution over them.
To prepare the chestnut cream, whizz the chestnut purée in a food processor
until smooth and creamy, then incorporate the egg yolks. Transfer to a large
bowl. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites until they hold their shape,
then gradually sprinkle over the sugar, whisking well with each addition
until you have a glossy meringue. Fold this into the chestnut purée in three
goes.
To assemble the trifle, smear a spoon of the chestnut cream over the base of a
20cm bowl, 9cm deep. Lay the trifle sponges on the base, cutting them to
fit, and sprinkle over the remaining brandied syrup. Smooth over half the
chestnut purée.
Scatter in the amaretti, leaving behind any syrup they haven't absorbed, then
the pears and the remaining chestnut purée.
Cover and chill the trifle for at least two hours, though it is best eaten the
day it is made. Before serving, dust with cocoa and decorate with the
marrons glacé or crystallised stem ginger.
Nutritionist's verdict
Chocolate orange trifle For a decadently chocolately pudding it is
great to know that, between ten people, you get only 226 calories,
significantly fewer than in Death by Chocolate-style desserts with a good
358 per person. Surprisingly, this trifle contributes only 12g of fat to
your meal (a woman's daily target is 70g and a man's total 90). The best bit
is that just one serving gives you all the vitamin C you need for the day.
Snowy date trifle A naturally low-fat pudding (just 0.7g per serving),
which boasts some vitamin C from the apples (just under half of your daily
needs). The soluble fibre in the apples helps to slow down the absorption of
sugar from the sugar and dates. This trifle gives only 162 calories per
serving which is not much more than a yoghurt.
Sweet chestnut trifle A more substantial pudding, which gives about 280
calories per serving, but this trifle has almost 2mg of iron (women need
14.8mg a day and men 10mg) from the eggs and chestnuts, plus a little
vitamin D from the eggs.
AMANDA URSELL
