Recipe: Mulled Wine Poached Pear Trifle

Mulled Wine Poached Pear Trifle

A christmas twist on a traditional English dessert with sweet pears infused with spiced red wine.

Ingredients:

3 ripe pears

2 cups mulled wine

vanilla madeira/pound cake, sliced

vanilla custard

200ml double cream

*you will need an 10-12″ trifle dish

Method:

– peel, core and slice pears, then place in a saucepan with the mulled wine

– bring wine to the boil, then reduce heat, cover and leave to infuse for 30 minutes, or until the pears are soft and stained a burgundy red colour

– remove pears from the wine with a slotted spoon and spread out on a plate to cool – retain wine for use later

– while the pears cool, whisk the cream until thickened, but still soft

– to assemble, dip both sides of each slice of madeira cake in the poaching wine and place in the bottom on your trifle dish – cut odd pieces of sponge until the base is completely covered and there are no gaps

– pour any left over wine over the sponge

– spread the pear slices on top of your sponge layer

– pour over a 1 1/2-2cm thick layer of custard

– use a piping bag to pipe on a top layer of cream

*store in fridge until needed – best eaten on the day made!