Chocolate Cherry Trifle
From Nigella Lawson

2 (approximately 12 ounces each) chocolate pound cakes
1/2 cup black cherry jam
1/2 cup cherry brandy
2 cups drained bottled sour cherries (recommended: Morello)
Custard:
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, minimum 70 percent cocoa solids, chopped
1 1/3 cups plus 1 tablespoon milk
1 1/3 cups plus 1 tablespoon heavy cream
8 egg yolks
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
Topping:
3 cups heavy cream
1-ounce bittersweet chocolate
Special Equipment: Large wide trifle bowl [or any large bowl - preferably clear so that you can see the layers]

1. Slice the chocolate pound cake and make jam sandwiches with the cherry jam, and layer the bottom of a large wide trifle bowl. Pour over the cherry brandy so that the cake soaks it up, and then top with the drained cherries. Cover with cling wrap and leave to soften while you make the custard.
2. Melt the chocolate on low to medium heat in the microwave, checking after 2 minutes, though it will probably need 4 minutes. Once the chocolate is melted, set aside while you get on with the custard.
3. In a saucepan warm the milk and cream.
4. Whisk the egg yolks, sugar, and cocoa in a large bowl.
5. Pour the warm milk and cream into the bowl whisking it into the yolks and sugar mixture.
6. Stir in the melted chocolate, scraping the sides well with a rubber spatula to get all of it in, and pour the custard back into the rinsed saucepan.
7. Cook over a medium heat until the custard thickens, stirring all the time. Make sure it doesn’t boil, as it will split and curdle. (Keep a sink full of cold water so that if you get scared you can plunge the bottom of the custard pan into the cold water and
   whisk like mad, which will avert possible crisis.) The custard will get darker as it cooks and the flecks of chocolate will melt once the custard has thickened. And you do need this thick, so don’t panic so much that you stop cooking while it is still runny. Admittedly, it continues to thicken as it cools and also when it’s chilling in the refrigerator.
8. Once it is ready, pour into a bowl to cool and cover the top of the custard with cling wrap to prevent a skin from forming.
9. When the custard is cold, pour and spread it over the chocolate cake layer in the trifle bowl, and leave in the refrigerator to set, covered in cling wrap overnight.
10. When you are ready to decorate, softly whip the cream for the topping [if you don't have an electric mixer, this could take a while] and spread it gently over the layer of custard. Grate the chocolate over the top.

Serves 16.

I recently made this delectable dessert and posted the step by step photo instructions in the Kitchen Goddess group on TeamSugar.

A trifle made in Derby, England to welcome in the New Decade, December 31 2009. Foto & Text: Wikipedia

A trifle is a dessert dish made from thick (or often solidified) custard, fruit, sponge cake, fruit juice or, more recently, gelatin, and whipped cream. These ingredients are usually arranged in layers with fruit and sponge on the bottom, and custard and cream on top.

The earliest known use of the name trifle was for a thick cream flavoured with sugar, ginger and rosewater, the recipe for which was published in 1596 in a book called “The good huswife’s Jewell”. It wasn’t until sixty years later when milk was added and the custard was poured over alcohol soaked bread.

Some trifles contain a small amount of alcohol such as port, or, most commonly, sweet sherry or madeira wine. Non-alcoholic versions may use sweet juices instead, as the liquid is necessary to moisten the cake layers.
Layers of a trifle dessert.

One popular trifle variant has the sponge soaked in jelly (liquid-gelatin dessert) when the trifle is made, which sets when refrigerated. The egg and jelly bind together and produce a pleasant texture if made in the correct proportions.

Traditional trifles did not contain jelly [1]. The Scots have a similar dish to trifle, Cranachan.

A trifle is often used for decoration as well as taste, incorporating the bright, layered colours of the fruit, jelly, egg custard, and the contrast of the cream.

Trifles are often served at Christmas time, sometimes as a lighter alternative to the much denser Christmas pudding.

A Creole trifle (also sometimes known as a ‘Russian cake’) is a different but related dessert item consisting of pieces of a variety of cakes mixed together and packed firmly, moistened with alcohol (commonly red wine or rum) and a sweet syrup or fruit juice, and chilled. The resulting cake contains a variety of colour and flavour. Bakeries in New Orleans have been known to produce such cakes out of their leftover or imperfect baked goods.

A recent variation is the chocolate trifle, usually made with chocolate cake, chocolate pudding, whipped cream, and skor[citation needed] bars.

In France, a dessert similar to trifle is known as diplomate (French) which explains the production of such trifle-like in