TV COOKS PULLOUT

TO CELEBRATE Weekend magazine’s Silver Jubilee, we’re bringing you brilliant recipes by the most popular celebrity chefs of the past 25 years. Today, we have a mouthwatering selection from Weekend columnist James Martin. He first appeared on our screens in 996 but it was hosting BBC’s Saturday Kitchen between 2006 and 20 6 that made James a household name. He now presents Saturday Morning With James Martin on ITV and has restaurants in Manchester and Hampshire.

ANYONE who knows me will know I have a sweet tooth – and who doesn’t love a trifle! This one uses pistachio paste, which you can buy online and in some speciality cake shops. It won’t turn the cake green, but will give it a great pistachio taste. SERVES 6-8

FOR THE PISTACHIO SPONGE

● 6 eggs

● 175g caster sugar

● 25g pistachio paste (try souschef.co.uk)

● 175g plain flour, plus more for the tin

● 25g unsalted butter, melted, plus more for the tin

FOR THE TRIFLE

● 1kg raspberries

● 25g flaked almonds

● 500ml double cream, whipped

● 3 tbsp icing sugar, sifted

● 125ml kirsch

● 500ml vanilla custard, cooled

● 40g shelled pistachio nuts, roughly chopped TO make the sponge, preheat the oven to 200c/400f/gas 6. Butter and flour a 23cm springform cake tin and line the base with greaseproof paper. Place the eggs and sugar in a large bowl and whisk for five minutes until pale and thick, then add the pistachio paste and mix for a minute until totally incorporated.

Fold the flour and melted butter into the mixture quickly without knocking out too much air, then pour into the tin and bake for 25 minutes until golden, risen and firm. cool in the tin for 10 minutes, turn out and cool on a wire rack.

To assemble the trifle, set 100g of raspberries aside, Place one-third (300g) of the remaining berries into a food processor with 2 tbsp of water. Blitz to a purée, then set aside. cut the cooled pistachio cake into 2cm-thick slices.

Place the flaked almonds in a small, dry frying pan and set over a medium heat. Stir until they turn a shade darker and smell toasty, then immediately tip on to a plate to stop them cooking.

Whip the cream with the icing sugar until soft peaks form. Take a large glass serving bowl and layer in the sponge, drizzle over the kirsch, then top with some raspberry sauce, raspberries and custard, then repeat, until all the sponge, kirsch, raspberry sauce, raspberries and custard have been used up.

Top with the whipped sweetened cream, then sprinkle with the reserved 100g of raspberries, flaked almonds and chopped pistachios.

Serve straight away, or chill until ready to serve.