Gingerbread and eggnog custard trifle recipe

By delicious. team

Serves 10-12
Takes 20 minutes to make, 30 minutes to cook, plus cooling and chilling
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Eggnog, gingerbread and trifle all in one dessert - what a great festive treat!

Ingredients

350g ginger loaf cake
70ml dark rum
2 pieces of stem ginger, chopped
500ml double cream
2 tbsp icing sugar
Gold lustre dust or gold leaf to decorate (see tip)
For the eggnog custard
50g golden caster sugar
7 large free-range egg yolks
4 tbsp cornflour
300ml whole milk
300ml double cream, whipped to soft peaks
3 tbsp advocaat liqueur
Grating of nutmeg
For the pears
150g caster sugar
1 litre raspberry and orange juice (available from Tesco)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 cinnamon stick
5 ripe but firm baby pears, such as blush, peeled and halved

Method

1. To make the custard, whisk the sugar, egg yolks and cornflour together in a bowl. Heat the milk and cream in a pan until almost boiling. Pour the mixture over the eggs and sugar, whisking constantly. Pour back into the pan and place over a gentle heat. Stir with a wooden spoon until thickened. Take off the heat, pass through a sieve, then stir through the advocaat and nutmeg. Cover the surface with cling film (to prevent a skin forming) and allow to cool, then refrigerate overnight to thicken further.
2. To poach the pears, put the sugar, juices and cinnamon in a large pan over a medium heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Lower in the pear halves. Bring to a simmer, then cook for 20 minutes, turning occasionally, until tender. Carefully remove from the pan and set aside to cool completely, before slicing each in half again and removing the core and stem.
3. Chop the ginger loaf cake into thick slices, douse with the rum, then use to line the base of a 2 litre trifle bowl, pressing the ginger cake up against the sides. Top with the pear quarters, pressing them up the sides too, and scatter with the chopped stem ginger.
4. Whip the cream together with the icing sugar until it just holds its shape. Top the pears with a layer of the custard, followed by the cream, spooning it over in pretty peaks. Decorate with gold lustre dust (see tip) before serving.

Nutritional info

Per serving(based on 12): 666kcals, 44.2g fat (24.7g saturated), 6.1g protein, 57.4g carbs (46.1g sugars), 0.3g salt, 2.4g fibre

Chef's tip

You can make the poached pears and the custard the day before. Store both in the fridge (keep the pears in the syrup). Lustre dust is used in cake decorating to give surfaces a rich shimmer and is available in cookshops or online at sites such as