Plum trifles

Michael Craig

These individual trifles take only a few minutes to prepare, especially since you can buy all the ingredients ready to assemble. Once they’ve been prepared, they are ready to go, which means no stress about timing or heating at serving time. I know there will be trifle-haters out there (my sisters included) but I love it, and it feels especially festive with Christmas firmly on the horizon.

Ingredients

1 small	Sponge cake (Main)
100 ml	Brandy, or sherry
½ can	Black Doris plums, 850g can (Main)
½ cup	Raspberries, fresh or frozen
1 cup	Custard
300 ml	Cream, whipped with 1 tsp of good-quality vanilla extract, or the seeds of 1 vanilla pod
1 packet	Dark chocolate, to grate as a garnish

Directions

1. Take 6 glasses (I used vintage Champagne saucers). Break a few pieces of sponge and place in the bottom of each glass. Push the pieces down so they're about 2cm high and quite dense.
2. Spoon about 2 Tbsp brandy or sherry per dish over the sponge.
3. Spoon over about 2 Tbsp plum syrup from the can. Press a few raspberries into each dish.
4. Pour over a little custard (about 2 Tbsp) into each one.
5. Take a plum from the can and remove the stone. Break it into a few pieces and gently place on top of the custard.
6. Using a tablespoon, spoon a curl of whipped cream on top. Garnish with grated chocolate and an edible flower.