Gingerbread and Ginger Trifle

Two recipes in one - gingerbread and ginger trifle.... food for the gods!   A perfect recipe for Easter, this is an adaptation of Jo's Stour Festival ginger trifle, a delicious, zingy alternative to sherry trifle, with little nuggets of ginger, gingerbread and proper custard, topped with a layer of cream and ginger biscuits.

First, make the gingerbread - the best recipe I have found is Mary Berry's, with added ginger pieces.   Then assemble the trifle.   It's that easy.

Gingerbread

World’s Best Gingerbread

8oz self raising flour

1 ½ tsp ground ginger

½ tsp mixed spice

4oz soft brown sugar

4oz margarine (I prefer butter)

4oz treacle

4oz golden syrup

1 egg

¼ pint milk

3 chunks of stem ginger cut into small pieces

Line a tin 8” x 12” with foil and grease well.  Put sugar, marge, syrup and treacle in a pan and heat gently until melted.  Beat egg into the milk.  Add treacle mixture, ginger and milk to the flour and beat well.  Pour into the prepared tin.  Cook for about 20-25 minutes on 180 deg C until brown and springy to the touch, beginning to shrink away from the sides of the foil. 

Best eaten immediately, saving enough pieces for the trifle. 

Ginger Trifle 

Ginger Trifle

several pieces of gingerbread - depending on the size of the trifle

1 small packet ginger nut biscuits

ginger wine (optional, but highly recommended!)

stem ginger chunks

nuts (optional)

3/4 to 1 pint double cream, whipped until it can still just pour

custard (recipe below for a largish trifle for up to 8 people)

Custard:   

3/4 pint of custard made with 3 egg yolks, 1.5oz/40g caster sugar

3/4 pint single or double cream (if using double, do part milk!)

½ tsp cornflour

few drops vanilla essence

To make the custard, mix the yolks, sugar, cornflour and vanilla, using a small whisk.   In a milk pan (preferably non-stick), warm the cream/milk to blood heat.  Pour this mixture onto the yolk mix, whisking gently until it is all incorporated.  Pour the entire mixture back into the pan and heat it.  Change over to a wooden spoon, and stir the custard lovingly until it thickens and coats the back of the spoon.    Allow it to cool. 

Now assemble the trifle.  The gingerbread, any nuts and pieces of ginger go into the bottom of the bowl, with half of the gingernut biscuits.   Pour over a good slug of ginger wine.   Then add the custard and, finally, the whipped cream.  Decorate with the remaining ginger nut biscuits.    Chill to set the custard and cream.   This is probably best made a day in advance, but it still delicious the same day!