Pastry chef Phillipa Margetts shares her recipe for her delicious update on a classic layered Christmas trifle.
Pastry chef Phillipa Margetts brings us a twist on a classic layered trifle to create a deliciously rich and show-stopping Christmas dessert. Caramelised bananas are cooked in Haymans Sloe Gin to bring out the fruit flavours and help to balance the sweet caramel. The trifle is then layered with chantilly cream, gingerbread, dolce delice cream, and topped with candied pecans and meringue kisses.
It may look like a lot of work, but each step is pretty straight-forward – there are just a few of them to get through. For this reason, you’ll want to start this recipe a day ahead to make sure you’ve prepped all your elements and they’re all ready to go.
One hot tip for when it comes to assembling your trifle is that the first four layers should be roughly even and allow a few centimetres at the top for the gingerbread crumble and candied pecans. And if you want that extra ‘wow factor’ you can also top this Christmas Ginger Trifle with meringue kisses.
We run through each of the elements below, so you can make it as simple or as extra as you like.
- Preparation and cooking time: 3-3.5 hours (prep the day before for dolce delice and caramel bananas)
- Serves: 12- 15 people (could serve up to 20 people with smaller servings)
Ingredients: dolce delice cream
2 x 375g cans sweetened condensed milk
Ingredients: caramelised bananas
8 bananas
120g butter
160g caster sugar
200g dark brown sugar
½ tsp vanilla paste
100mL Haymans Sloe Gin
Ingredients: ginger bread
125g unsalted butter
90g brown sugar
220g golden syrup
375g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate soda 2 tsp ginger 1 tsp cinnamon
Ingredients: candied pecans
150g pecans 75g caster sugar
1 egg white
Ingredients: meringue kisses
120g egg whites
120g icing sugar
120g caster sugar
1.2L thickened cream 2 oranges (and zest)
Method: dolce delice
Place the cans of condensed milk in a large saucepan and cover well with water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 2.5 hours, ensuring the water is covering the cans (otherwise they can explode with the heat) Allow to cool slightly in the pot before removing Remove from pot, and place in the fridge to cool completely. This is best done the day before assembling
Method: caramelised bananas
Chop bananas, roughly 2cm and set aside
To make the caramel paste, melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, continuously stirring until it turns slightly golden in colour
Slowly add the sugars, allowing them to dissolve completely, and turn into a caramel paste Add the Hayman’s Sloe Gin. If the mix seizes up or hardens, just continue to cook and stir allowing the mix to combine back to the smooth caramel paste
Once it has returned to the right smooth consistency, take off the heat and add bananas. Mix the bananas through the caramel so they are well coated Set aside in a baking dish or bowl. Cover the top with baking paper and allow to cool slightly before placing it in the fridge to cool completely. This is best done the day before assembling.
Method: ginger bread
Place the butter and sugar in an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, and cream until light in colour and creamy in texture Keep using the electric mixer, but scrape down the bowl, turn the mixer on a lower speed and gradually add the golden syrup. Once combined, add the flour, ginger, cinnamon and bicarbonate soda
Line the baking tray with paper and press dough roughly onto the tray, around 2cm thick
Bake at 160 degrees celsius for 15-20 minutes until a golden brown. Be careful not to overcook it – you want it to still feel a bit cakey so it will asborb all the other flavours
Method: candied pecans
Slightly whisk one egg white
Mix and coat pecans with egg white and then caster sugar
Bake in oven at 150 degrees celsius for 10-15 minutes
Allow to cool, then roughly chop
Method: meringue kisses
Preheat oven to 100 degrees celsius Place egg whites in electric mixer with the whisk attachment, and whisk until bubbly soft peaks Add caster sugar slowly, whisk until stiff peaks form, and the mixture is white and glossy Add icing sugar, whisk for a few more minutes until combined and meringue appears to hold stiff peaks, is white and glossy Place meringue in a piping bag fitted with a nozzle, pipe small meringues (roughly 4cm diameter) onto a tray lined with baking paper Bake for 20-25 minutes. Top tip: stick the baking paper down in the corners of the tray using the meringue mixture to avoid the paper blowing around in the oven
Method: assembling the Christmas Ginger Trifle
Layer the caramelised bananas on the bottom of a trifle bowl, topped with the zest of one orange
Top with softly whipped cream (you’ll need 600g in total) Crumble the gingerbread in various sizes on top of the cream Mix the dolce delice with the remaining whipped cream and slightly whip until evenly incorporated. Layer on top of the gingerbread Add more crumbled gingerbread crumble Top with candied pecans Sprinkle with the zest of the other orange and finish with the meringue kisses
