Layers of fresh fruit, lychee sponge, green tea custard, honeyed almonds, vanilla cream
Trifle is one of those desserts that lends itself well to summer: full of fresh fruit and cream, it is rich yet light. It’s coldness, the perfect end to a hot summer day. There are many different kinds of trifle, but this one is unique in its blend of Asian flavors with the more standard European cake and cream combination.
If you are wondering where to pick up lychees to use in this dessert, take a trip to your local Asian food store. With your ingredients in hand, it’s time to make the layers of the trifle.
Trifle, unlike the name suggests, is not really a trifle. It has a lot of different components that have to be made separately, cooled, and finally assembled all together. The good news is that many of the layers can be made in advance if needed. For example, the cake, cream, and custard can all be made the day before, then on the day of, just prep the fruit and assemble. In addition, be sure to look at the steps of the recipe to maximize efficiency; you can work on different layers concurrently to complete the recipe in the shortest amount of time possible.
A few notes on this recipe. First, the custard in this recipe is a sauce consistency and less like a pudding. Don’t worry if you think it’s too thin. This is so it can more easily coat the fruit and cake, so the flavor combines with the others a bit more than the other layers do. Second, while this recipe is designed for one large trifle in a 3 qt trifle bowl, you can easily make this in cups for individual servings. Depending on the size of container you use, you can just cut the cake to the shape. Third, if you have never made custard before, I recommend practicing. It’s not difficult, but it is easy to overcook the egg mixture. You don’t want to let it get above 180 degrees Fahrenheit as you will likely end up with lumpy coagulated custard.
Enjoy!
– The Recipe –
Peach & Lychee Trifle
prep time: 25 min
total time:1 hr 20 min
makes: 1 large trifle (12 cups)
Ingredients
Fruit Layers
- 2 cans of lychees, halved
- 5 large peaches, chopped
Sponge Cake
- 4 eggs
- 3 egg whites
- 1 c sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 c flour
- 1/2 c lychee syrup
Custard
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 egg
- 1 c whole milk
- 1/4 c sugar
- dash of salt
- 2 tsp green tea leaves
- 1/4 tsp vanilla
Whipped Cream
- 2.5 c heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 c sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla
Honeyed Almonds
- 1 c chopped almonds
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1/8 tsp salt
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenhite and grease two 9 in round cake pans. Place a mixing bowl in the refrigerator to cool.
- In a mixing bowl of a stand mixer, place the eggs and egg whites. Put the remaining egg yolks in another mixing bowl and add one more egg for later use in the custard. Beat the eggs for one – two minutes on high, until they begin to froth.
- Measure and add in the cup of sugar and the salt and beat for 8- 10 minutes more until thick and foamy. At the same time, add your sugar and salt to the custard mixing bowl.
- While the cake batter is mixing, cut up the almonds and toast them on medium high heat in a frying pan until they turn golden, about 4-5 minutes. Be sure to stir frequently. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the honey to coat. Spread the almonds on parchment paper and sprinkle with the salt and allow to cool.
- Add the vanilla to the cake bater. Mix the flour and baking soda for the cake and add to the cake slowly. Mix to just combine. Do not over mix at this stage.
- Pour the batter into the cake pans and bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown.
- While the cake is baking, mix the tea and milk in a glass measuring cup and microwave for 2 minutes, until very hot. Stir and allow to infuse for 5 minutes- 7 minutes.
- While the milk/tea infuses, in a large mixing bowl, whip the cream, and sugar together on high, until the cream thickens (about 5 minutes). Add in the vanilla and mix until combined, then chill.
- Stir the custard eggs, salt, and sugar together until well combined, but do not incorporate a lot of air.
- Slowly add in the milk/ leaf mixture, stirring to ensure the eggs do not coagulate.
- Pour the mixture into a small pot and cook on high heat stirring constantly, making sure to stir around the edges and center.
- Cook until the custard thickens: 2-3 minutes and immediately remove from the heat and whisk heavily to incorporate air and begin cooling.
- Strain the custard into the chilled bowl and stir in the vanilla. Place back in the refrigerator to finish cooling.
- Remove the cakes from the oven and allow to cool. Remove for the pans, using a thin spatula to help free the cake from the edges of the pan. While cooling, prep the fruit.
- Layer the trifle as follows. Put one layer of cake. Pour 1/4 of lychee syrup over the cake. Next add a layer of lychees. Cover with a thin layer of half of the custard then sprinkle with roughly half of the almonds. Add a layer of whipped cream followed by peaches. Repeat all the layers, mounding the final whipped cream layer and peaches in the center on the top of the trifle.
Apricity 