A suitably decadent trifle for the festive season from Thomasina Miers.
Ingredients
- 1 orange
- 150 g caster sugar or honey
- 1 big thumb ginger sliced
- 6 not-too-ripe pears ( about 800g) peeled, cored and cut into 1-2cm chunks
- For the custard:
- 4 eggs separated – you’ll need only 3 of the whites,
- 100 g caster sugar
- 500 g mascarpone
- 4 tbsp Pedro Ximenez sherry or marsala
- To assemble
- about 600 g panettone very thickly sliced
- 3 tbsp Pedro Ximénez or marsala
- TO DECORATE
- 100 g dark chocolate chopped into small pieces
- toasted flaked almonds
- 25 g crystallised ginger chopped
- 3 tbsp Pedro Ximénez or marsala
Servings:
Instructions
- Zest the orange into a small bowl and put to one side. Squeeze the juice into a medium pan and add the sugar or honey, ginger and about 400ml water. Bring to a simmer and add the pears, adding more hot water, if needed, to cover them.
- Return to a simmer and cook for three to five minutes, until they are only just tender but the tip of a knife can be inserted easily. Cooking time will depend on their ripeness, but you want them to hold their shape.
- Once cooked, transfer the pears to the bowl of orange zest. Reduce the pear liquid in the pan for 15-20 minutes until it is a syrup, pour this over the pears and leave to cool.
- Next, make the custard. In a large bowl, use an electric whisk to beat the egg yolks with the sugar for about five minutes, until thick and pale. Whisk in the mascarpone a bit at a time, trying to avoid any lumps, then mix in the sherry or marsala.
- In a clean bowl, whisk the three egg whites to stiff peaks. Stir a big tablespoon of this into the mascarpone mix, then gently fold in the rest, being careful not to over mix. Transfer to the fridge for a moment.
- When the pears are cool, spoon them into a large, glass bowl and spoon over enough poaching syrup just to cover. Sprinkle over a third of the chocolate, then lay the panettone slices on top.
- Drizzle with the sherry or marsala and a few teaspoons more of the syrup, followed by another third of the chocolate and the mascarpone custard. Refrigerate for at least three hours.
- When you are ready to serve, scatter over the last of the chocolate, the flaked almonds and crystallised ginger, then serve as a festive dessert .
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