Spiced pear trifle

All the parts for this dessert can be made ahead. At Cora Pearl, chef George makes a cake with rapeseed oil for the trifle. If you’d like to make this, just search ‘rapeseed oil cake’ at bbcgoodfood.com.

SERVES 4-6 PREP 30 mins plus chilling COOK 2 hrs MORE EFFORT

4-6 slices sponge cake 4 tbsp cider apple brandy or calvados

½ tsp powdered cinnamon For the tonka bean mousse 8g gelatine

250g whole milk

5 large egg yolks

50g golden caster sugar 1 tonka bean (available at steenbergs.co.uk, or use a vanilla pod)

200g double cream

For the custard

500ml whole milk 1 vanilla pod, split

3 large egg yolks 60g golden caster sugar 80g cornflour

For the pear compote

4 pears, peeled, cored and diced

75ml spiced syrup (see box, left)

1 To make the custard, put the milk and vanilla pod (scrape in the seeds) in a pan and bring to a simmer. Meanwhile, mix the yolks and sugar in a large bowl. Stir the cornflour into the egg mixture. Remove the vanilla pod from the milk and add a little of the milk to the egg mixture, stirring quickly, to temper the eggs. Add the rest of the milk, combine, then return everything to the pan and continue to cook over a low heat, stirring continuously, until thick. Remove from the heat and pour into a bowl. Cover with cling film to prevent a skin forming, and set aside to cool. Chill until needed.

2 For the pear compote, put the pears and syrup in a pan and cook on a high heat until the pears just start to collapse. Chill until needed.

3 To make the mousse, soak the gelatine in a little cold water. Put the milk, yolks, sugar, a pinch of salt and a grating of tonka bean in a pan. Whisk everything together, then place over a medium heat. Slowly bring the mixture up to 80C, stirring continuously, until it’s thick and coats the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat. Strain the gelatine, then add to the pan and stir. Strain the mixture through a sieve into a bowl and leave to cool. Lightly whisk the double cream, then fold it into the tonka bean-infused custard in a few stages. Spoon into piping bags, if you like. Chill until needed.

4 To build the trifle, arrange a layer of the cake slices in the bottom of a large glass bowl or individual bowls. Drizzle with the brandy. Add a layer of the pear compote, followed by the custard. Spoon the tonka bean mousse on top and finish with a light dusting of the cinnamon.

GOOD TO KNOW calcium

PER SERVING (6) 643 kcals • fat 33g • saturates 18g • carbs 66g • sugars 49g • fibre 3g • protein 12g • salt 0.4g