raspberry syllabub trifle

When overseas recently, I was surprised by how little I wanted to buy and came back with only a couple of new things. In Hong Kong, apparently a shopper's mecca, I bought only a cloth patch for the picnic rug. True. This was despite the encouragement of the touts outside the ritzy shops in Nathan Road ( an awful place, we went there briefly once) to buy a cheap watch/suit/bag whatever.... we ignored them and walked on.
I figure the ritzy bags and the copies are all made in factories next door to each other in mainland China so where's the exclusivity?

But being a complete sucker for a quirky cookbook I did buy the following two, in Stratford and Bath:



Haven't made anything out of Tea with the Bennets yet, but I do like the sound of Mr Whickham's Indelicate Pudding and Meryton Market Squares.

The other book my daughter spotted in the gift shop at Holy Trinity Church. She was amused by the loaves and fishes on the cover, and liked the Vicar's message inside.
There are some great sounding recipes in it, and last night we had some people coming for dinner, so I decided to make the Raspberry Syllabub Trifle. The ingredients include a madeira cake from a shop, raspberries and cream and dessert wine - how delicious and easy is that? It's also one you make the day before and stick in the fridge and ignore til you want it. I fiddled a bit with the method and ended up with a beautiful dessert that everyone loved.

(Here is a gratuitous photo of hydrangeas N brought for me last night. She lives on Mount Dandenong, so gets cooler conditions and hydrangeas can survive for her, unlike the rest of us in dustbowl Melbourne. They are my favourite flower and I'm sad I can't grow them anymore).










Raspberry syllabub trifle

3/4s of a shop bought Madeira cake
400g frozen or fresh raspberries
icing sugar
300ml thickened cream
150ml sweet white wine

Cut the cake into cubes and arrange on base of trifle dish. Sprinkle raspberries over cake. Sprinkle 2 level tablespoons of icing sugar over fruit and cake. Whip cream until it stands in peaks, fold in wine and two extra tablespoons of icing sugar. Pour/spread over fruit and cake. Cover with cling film and leave at room temperature for four hours, then overnight in the fridge until you need it the next day. Put some extra fresh berries over the top if you like (I didn't).

Served 6, and four people had seconds.