ANGLO-ITALIAN TRIFLE
 NIGELLA
Photograph by Petrina Tinslay
INGREDIENTS

8 trifle sponges
200g blackcurrant jam
1 x 200g packet amaretti biscuits
250ml limoncello (or other lemon liqueur)
juice of half a lemon
750g blackberries
2 eggs, separated
100g caster sugar
750g mascarpone cheese
50g flaked almonds
Serving Size : Serves 12–14.
Powered by  
METHOD

1.Split the trifle sponges and make little sandwiches of them using 150g of the jam, then wodge them into the base of your glass bowl. Reduce the amaretti biscuits to rubble in the processor and, reserving some crumbs for sprinkling over the top at the end, scatter most of them evenly over the sponges and then pour over them 150ml of the limoncello.
2.Put the remaining 50g of jam into a wide saucepan with the lemon juice and melt over a low heat, then tumble in the blackberries and turn in the heat for a minute or so just until the juices start running. Tip these over the biscuit-sprinkled, liqueur-soused sponge sandwiches to cover and leave this while you get on with the next bit.
3.Whisk the egg yolks with the caster sugar until you have a thick smooth yellow paste. I use my Kitchen Aid for this, but any old hand-held electric mixer or whisk would be fine. Still whisking, drip in another 50ml limoncello and continue whisking away until you have a light moussey mixture. Whisk in the mascarpone until everything is smoothly combined, and when this is done add the remaining 50ml of limoncello.
4.Finally, in another bowl, whisk the egg whites until firm, but not dry, and fold these into the lemony, eggy mascarpone mixture. Now spread this gently over the blackberries in the glass bowl.
5.Cover the thus-far assembled trifle with clingfilm and leave in the fridge for the flavours and textures to steep and meld for at least 4 hours and up to 24. Take the trifle out of the fridge for about 40 minutes to an hour before it’s needed (depending on how cold your fridge runs) to get to coolish room temperature. Not long before you want to eat, toast the flaked almonds by tossing them in a dry, oil-less pan over medium heat until they are turning gold and flashed bronze in parts, then tip them on to a plate. When they’re cool, mix them with the reserved amaretti crumbs. Remove the clingfilm from the bowl and scatter the nuts and crumbs over the pale, set surface. Dig in and serve, making sure to heap the full triple-banded layer on each plate: the lemony, almondy, cream-swathed berrieness makes this the perfect ending to a large, lazy summer lunch.
ADDITIONAL INFO

I use blackcurrant rather than blackberry jam, simply because I want a more jellied, less pippy smearing between the sponges, but it wouldn’t really matter which you go for. Similarly, feel free to use rum in place of the limoncello.

REVIEWS

Thank you Nigella for this trifle, it is the absolute best that I have ever made. Whenever I want to treat family or friends this is what I make for dessert. I have also used sherry instead of the lemoncello. Regards from Jenny in South Africa.

JayDenise

thanks a ton nigella i love u. i used tis recipe for my french clients and they loved it, it was a shoot order as i run a small takeaway italian joint in bombay,hope to learn from u much more, u my guiding star. plz keep me helping, thanks a ton and love u a lot, vishal from india

vishal

A really fabulous trifle. I made it several times for several family gatherings, and it's been a big hit with everybody. I use Amaretto instead of limoncello sometimes, and both versions are wonderful. If you haven't tried making this trifle, then you've never lived.

jackknight007

I have made this several times, the first time I made it my sister's mother in law loved it so much she went out and bought me a trifle bowl so I can make it more often and she requested it for several parties and in lieu of her birthday cake. There was left over from a new year's eve party and she took it home and had it the next morning while watching the rose parade! Its SO good!!!

Brycat

This is a wonderful and very forgiving recipe! I don't care for amaretto, so I substituted ginger cookies and used lemoncello for great results.

bethjeff
Back