Sponge 1.To make your own sponge follow the next 5 steps, if you want to use a premade sponge like Mrs Crimbles Madeleines, skip to breaking up the sponge in step 6. Whisk together the eggs and sugar until thick and pale.
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In a separate bowl sift together the flour and baking powder, and add in the ground almonds.
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Fold the egg mix into the flour very carefully to avoid breaking air bubbles.
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Spoon the mix into a greased and lined swiss roll tin or a deep baking tray, bake for 5 mins on gas mark 4/180c, then turn it round and bake for another 5 mins. Once just firm, it is cooked
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Sprinkle a sheet of baking parchment with sugar and tip the sponge out onto it and leave to cool.
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Once cold, break into pieces and place in the bottom of a large dish.
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Pour the sherry over the top of the sponge and set aside.
Vanilla Blancmange 8. Take about 50ml of the required amount of milk and mix well with the cornflour.
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Add the sugar into the cornflour mix and stir thoroughly.
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Pour the cornflour mix into a pan and bring to a simmer, once this is reached, gradually stir in the remaining milk. It is important that you keep stirring.
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Continue stirring for 5 or so minutes until the mixture thickens to a thick custard consistency and stir in the vanilla extract.
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Take off the heat and place cling film directly on top of the blancmange and leave to cool in the pan for half an hour or so until warm.
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Once cool enough, remove the cling film and pour on top of the sponge, place in the fridge for at least 2 hours to set, then you can continue with the next layer.
Strawberry/Raspberry Blancmange 14. Puree the strawberries or raspberries, whichever you are using, in a food processor and set aside. You can sieve if you would which I would recommend with raspberries, strawberries don't need it as much.
Repeat steps 8 to 12, amending the milk quantities accordingly (to reflect ingredients in Layer 3) and replacing the vanilla extract with the fruit puree.
- Once the blancmange is cool enough pour on top of the Vanilla Blancmange, and place back in the fridge for another 2 hours at least.
Coconut Cream 16. Pour the double cream into a bowl and whisk until stiff.
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Pour on top of the second blancmange and place back in the fridge, to go slightly more solid the cream may need another few hours to harder slightly.
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Top the trifle with chocolate or hundreds and thousands. To allow to fully set you may want to put the trifle in the fridge overnight before serving but it will be soft set enough to eat straight away.
