This year: a return to the old standby of chestnut and mushroom for the savoury one, and apricot pineapple and ginger for the fruity one. If you really want to details of the recipe, check back to previous stuffing posts.
And this year I made a trifle because I’m not a huge fan of Christmas pudding and it seemed like a sufficiently Christmassy alternative. From bottom to top, it’s chocolate sponge, cherries in syrup, grated chocolate, vanilla custard, cherry jam, whipped cream, decorated with glacé cherries, gold balls and iridescent sprinkles. A Black Forest gateau type thing.
To be really picky, it could have have less sponge and/or more liquid to soak it in (I would have added booze but I was serving small children), and more custard. But it was nice anyway.
And I made a christmas cake for the first time this year. It’s a Sri Lankan recipe from Charmaine Solomon’s Complete Asian Cookbook, and it’s very much in the mould of a traditional European Christmas cake, but with more spices and a more interesting mix of fruit. I substituted ground almonds for the semolina for gluten-free purposes. It turned out really well, recognisably a Christmas cake but much better than the usual. Note, though, it is seriously rich: one slice is almost too much to eat at a time.
2 replies on “The 8th annual Christmas stuffing post (and trifle and cake)”
My mum used to put sherry in half the trifle when we were kids. Inevitably there would be some bleed; I disliked this at first but was thus gradually conditioned into liking the taste of booze in trifle. Yours looks fantastic, I’ve never had one with chocolate sponge. I guess you’d use kirsch, or perhaps cherry brandy if you were feeling retro…
Happy New Year!
Yeah, kirsch was the obvious thought, but my niecephews still dislike the taste of alcohol… which is probably no bad thing.
And a Happy New Year to you too!