Elderflower Trifle

Elderflower, herald of summer, ingredient of a million refreshing cordials!  Elderflower has a very gentle taste, more of a scent, and is usually paired with gooseberries in puddings.   This time it is the star in its own right, in a fabulous elderflower trifle.   Thanks to Gilly for this recipe, which I made to accompany my first solo singing recital.  The wonderful audience were lured with promises of Pimms and Puddings to follow the recital, and we had a great evening.  The trifle disappeared so quickly, I didn't even have a chance to try it!   The original recipe has crystallised elderflowers on the top, but they were a disaster, so I went for fresh instead.

As always, trifle is an assembly job, so the base can be Amaretti biscuits or a light sponge cake.  There is no custard layer, and NO JELLY.  I made a gluten-free sponge, so the whole pudding was then gluten free (and much appreciated as such!).  The quantity below is enough for 8 people.  It is pretty alcoholic.

Elderflower Trifle 

Elderflower Trifle

Base:        

Plain sponge cake or 16 Amaretti biscuits (here I used my quick Swiss Roll recipe from the blog, made in two 8" tins, using half)    

4tbsp elderflower cordial

4tbsp sweet sherry

2tbsp water

Syllabub:

zest and juice of 2 lemons

flowers from two elderflower heads

8floz/230ml white wine

6oz/150g caster sugar

1 pint double cream

to decorate:

Small sprays of elderflower

Mix together the lemon zest, juice and elderflowers, then leave to steep for at least one hour.  Break up and put the cake/biscuits into the bowl.  Mix the cordial, sherry and water together and pour over the cake - yes, there's a lot of it!   Strain the steeped syllabub liquids into a large bowl.  Stir in the sugar and then pour in the cream.  Whisk together for a minute or two, until the cream thickens (which it does eventually).  Pour into the bowl, and decorate with the fresh flowers. 

The Swiss Roll recipe is here: http://www.katespuddings.blogspot.co.uk/#!http://katespuddings.blogspot.com/2013/05/quick-swiss-roll-sponge-heaven.html