Mandarin Trifle

To Y

When it comes to special occasions like the Valentine’s Day, girls love doing a bit of DIY for their guys. For the girls who don’t cook for the rest of the year, they often resort to making heart-shaped chocolates. Needless to say, that is what I did for our first Valentine's Day. That was a few years ago and it was way before I started to fall in love with cooking. I had made about a dozen heart shaped-chocolates: two layers of chocolate with words inscribed on top. The chocolates received raved reviews from the girls on my floor (I made some extra) and my American floormate even said I could open a chocolate shop! But as far as the intended recipient was concerned, the relevant box which housed the chocolates sat in his fridge largely untouched for 2 months... It's obviously my fault, as I had made the wrong assumption that except me, everyone else in the world loves chocolate.

Determined not to repeat this blunder, I made this trifle on our 4th Vanlentine's Day last year. Being quintessentially British, Y loves trifles. He is particularly fond of M&S's Mandarin Trifle Dessert. After a futile research to find a similar recipe online, I made up my own version of this trifle and I am, unashamedly, proud to say I have cracked it! And I am pleased to report that this trifle didn't stay in the fridge for very long... Now, I have made this time and time again with empty glass bowl guaranteed. Incidentally, I found other people enjoy it as well, so it's a great dessert that you can prepare a day in advance if you have guests visiting.

The procedures below may look long, but believe me it is such a breeze to make. If you really want less work, you can cheat by buying shop-bought sponge fingers and shop-bought custard. For best results, make it a day in advance and keep it in the fridge so that the flavours can blend in.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

For mandarin jelly

1. 1 can of mandarin orange segments in juice
2. 1 pack of orange/tangerine jelly sachet/tablets (I prefer Tartley’s tangerine jelly tablets)

For sponge

1. 60g soft margarine/vegetable spread/butter spread
2. 60g caster sugar
3. 50g self-raising flour
4. 10g cornflour
5. 1 egg, beaten
6. 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
7. About 3 tablespoon of juice from the can of mandarin
8. 1 tablespoon Cointreau

For custard

1. 1/2 vanilla pod
2. 275ml double cream
3. 3 large egg yolks
4. 1 tablespoon caster sugar
5. 2 teaspoons cornstarch
6. 2 teaspoons Bird's custard powder

For whipped cream

1. 200ml double cream
2. 2 tablespoon caster sugar
3. 1 teaspoon orange flavouring
4. Zest from 1 orange

Method:

• Arrange mandarin pieces neatly in the bottom of an 8 inch round deep glass bowl.
• Make the jelly by dissolving the jelly granules from sachet/jelly tablets according to packet instructions and make up to about 300ml (or about 1/2 pint) of jelly liquid. Pour the jelly mixture just to cover the mandarin pieces (the mandarin will float if all of the jelly mixture is poured in one go). Put it in the fridge to set, which takes about 2 hours. After the jelly has set the mandarin pieces in place, you can pour the remaining jelly liquid into the bowl. Set in the fridge while you get the other components ready.
• Pre-heat the oven to 180c. Use baking parchment to line an 8 inch round cake tin. Make the sponge layer by placing margarine (or vegetable spread/butter spread), sugar, flour, cornflour, baking powder and an egg in a large bowl and mix until all ingredients are thoroughly blended. Spoon cake mixture into the cake tin, spreading evenly. Bake for 25 minutes. Take out and cool the cake in the tin for 10 minutes. Remove the cake from the tin and let it cool down for a while. Place the sponge carefully on the jelly and use a pastry brush to moist the sponge with the mandarin juice and Cointreau.
• Make the custard by splitting the vanilla pod into half and scrape out the seeds from one half. Put the scraped pod and the vanilla seeds in a medium pan with doublecream. Bring to the boil slowly and immediately take off the heat and leave to stand. In another bowl, whisk egg yolks, caster sugar, cornflour and custard powder together. Take out the vanilla pod from the cream. Then whisk the egg mixture with one hand while you gradually pour the cream into the bowl with another hand. Return the mixture back to the pan immediately. Put on a medium heat and stir non-stop until the custard thickens. Since it is going to be put into the trifle, the thickness of the custard should be more like mayonaise, so it does take a bit of time to stir the mixture. Make sure it doesn’t boil or the custard will curdle. If it happens, immerse the pan in the sink filled with cold tap water for a few seconds to cool it down.
• When custard is completely cool, pour it on the sponge evenly and cool.
• To make the cream layer, whip double cream with the sugar until it forms soft peaks. Add in the orange flavouring and whip to stiff peaks. Use a piping bag to pipe the whipped cream on the top of the custard layer. Add some orange zest on top. Chill in the fridge until ready to serve.
• When ready to serve, sprinkle some toasted almond flakes on top.