Chocolate cherry trifle
Plus meet Pipers Farm
Happy Saturday!
Last week we went to stay in Cheshire for the big Coronation weekend (thank you Jamie, Rachel & Freddie @thecheshhome) so I didn’t plan meals in the usual way. Apologies for not sending this yesterday, but it’s all been a bit higgledy piggledy around here.
My contribution to the amazing spread they laid on in Cheshire – including Aunty Janet’s fabulous Coronation Chicken – was to recreate my mum’s chocolate cherry trifle. Every Christmas mum would make this along with a Cointreau clementine number for a big family party.
Mum tends to adapt recipes and not write anything down so there were a couple of phone-calls and emails to try to establish how exactly I should go about it, but we got there in the end. I know this isn’t the kind of recipe you would throw together for any old midweek meal(!), but for a celebration I can’t recommend it enough. I actually made two. A boozy one, below, and a booze-free version. You could make the chocolate cake base as a standalone cake, which my mum often does - it’s super.
Since I didn’t cook much this week, I thought I’d also change up the format on this email by sharing one of my favourite meat suppliers - Pipers Farm. I’ve just placed an order with them for this coming week. Their ‘properly free range’ chicken is amazing and 15% off at the moment.
Based in the West Country, Pipers Farm sources grass-fed meat from 40 small-scale mixed family farms based within an hour of its location in Devon, Dorset Somerset and Cornwall. I first met founder Peter Greig 10 years ago when he convinced my dad to farm Devons (also known as Red Rubies) - an incredibly hardy breed that do very well on grass and rough pasture. My parents’ don’t supply Pipers, but they farm in the same way.
I thoroughly support their model of mixed farming - the polar opposite of monocultures and factory farming that are so damaging to the environment and to our health. Rare breed meat isn’t just a fad or fashion, a rare breed belongs to a particular place and will have developed in harmony with its landscape, so, for example, Red Rubies can happily graze out on rough South West uplands and turn the grass into best quality meat without the need for inputs such as grain or even soya imported from half the world away. I think you can really taste the difference.
Pipers sausages are made from pork, gluten-free oats, salt and pepper wrapped in natural casings. No preservatives, chemicals, rusk etc. I’m going to get off my soapbox now, but when it comes to sourcing amazing meat and dairy products, I can’t recommend them enough. Plus, when it comes to planning recipes, I definitely subscribe to the eat less meat but better motto. It’s worth taking a look.
This is the refer a friend link that gets £10 off your first purchase.
Viv’s chocolate cherry trifle (serves 10)
This is super creamy, very chocolatey and owes more than a nod to Blackforest Gateau. All credit to my mum here. I just followed her instructions and added a few small tweaks such as the bar of No1 49% milk chocolate in the sauce.
Ingredients for the cake:
- 4oz self-raising flour (I use spelt flour with 2 tsp baking powder)
- 4oz ground almonds
- 2 tbsps cocoa powder
- 8oz caster sugar
- 4 eggs
- 8oz softened unsalted butter
2 x 20cm/8 inch cake tins, bases lined with greaseproof
Make the chocolate sponge the day before (this cake is a winner sandwiched with clotted cream btw). Pre heat the oven to gas mark 5/170 degrees fan. Cream the butter and sugar together well until light and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs, which should be lightly beaten and at room temperature. Do not worry if the mixture curdles. Add the cocoa powder, ground almonds and sieve in the flour. Fold together, careful not to lose the air, thus making for a lighter cake. Divide into the two tins and bake for 25 minutes. If they smell done at 20 minutes then check with a skewer. Allow to cool. If you are making one trifle then freeze one half. If making two you will need both halves.
Ingredients for the rest of the trifle:
- 3oz/75g butter
- 2.5oz/60g plain flour (sifted)
- 1 heaped tbsp cocoa powder (sifted)
- 1 pint (570ml) creamy milk
- 1.5 pints (853ml) double cream
- 25g caster sugar
- 2 bars good quality milk chocolate such as Waitrose No1 49% milk
- 2 jars Opies black cherries with kirsch
- 1 pack Forest feast dark chocolate coated sour cherries (optional)
Melt 2.5oz (60g) of the butter in a saucepan, Whisk in the flour and cocoa powder then gradually add the milk, whisking vigorously to avoid lumps. It will form a paste then eventually a smooth sauce. Just make sure you whisk out the lumps after each addition. As soon as it comes to simmering point and has thickened, turn the heat down, stir in the sugar and let it cook for ten minutes. Then take off the heat and add the remaining 1/2 oz (15g) butter, 1/2 pint of the double cream and one bar of chocolate broken into pieces. Allow to cool.
To make up the trifle, take a dish (mine is 8 inches wide by 6 inches tall), break the sponge into large chunks into the base. Top with one complete jar of cherries in kirsch. Drain the liquid from the other jar and just add the cherries (you can decide how much liquid you like). Pour the cooled chocolate cream on top - I sieved mine to make sure there were absolutely no lumps. Lightly whisk the remaining double cream (careful not to overheat - it should just have gone floppy and hold lightly together). Spoon on top and decorate with shavings of chocolate and the sour cherries, if liked.