Caitríona Redmond: How to make my Black Forest Trifle for Christmas

Plus: how to go about sharing the load on Christmas Day

Pic: iStock

Once a week my husband and I sit down and have a meeting. We plan out the activities for the week, the meals, and what recipes I will test. I write down the meals for the week and we get ourselves organised. Our world revolves around whiteboards and diaries.

During Christmas time this takes on great importance. We jokingly call it our production meeting where we write food-preparation sheets and schedules. We are taking care of the Christmas dinner prep this year and I cannot recommend this level of organisation enough.

We each hold one another accountable and add to the shopping list or preparation list as we go. I used to manage all of this mental load on my own and I would have described it as drudgery. Now having my partner-in-crime working by my side has given me renewed enjoyment because a job shared is a job halved.

Everybody in the household having a job gives us all clear boundaries and expectations. With that, my stress levels fall away. Everybody loves a volunteer so I invite the kids to choose which job they would like to do. Together we are working towards a Christmas with less stress.

It’s not just about sharing the physical or mental load. Take my trifle dish for example, a vital part of this week’s recipe, which is not something I have in my house. 

It’s a handy item to have but not used that much so it’s not an essential piece of my kitchen kit. Rather than go out and buy a new dish that would spend 99% of the year sitting on a shelf unused, I put out an appeal in the family WhatsApp.

“Does anybody have a trifle dish they can lend me?”

My parents did. Dad sent me a picture of a lovely crystal dish which was sitting on the windowsill in the living room behind the curtains. So lovely that I’d be terrified of damaging it. 

According to Dad though he’d rather see it used once and enjoyed than it to be residing under the curtains and gathering dust. The perfect outcome as, of course, he will benefit as chief trifle taster.

The main benefit of all of these lists and organisation the day before Christmas Eve is the financial savings. Being unprepared is a slippery slope to paying for items we may not need or use. 

If I make it to New Year’s Eve with all of the food used up or packaged away for another day, plus a nearly empty compost bin, then I am on the right track.

Have a wonderful Christmas, everyone.

HOME TRUTHS

How to save your Christmas leftovers

Mashed potatoes and sprouts or cabbage are simply a vehicle for making bubble and squeak on a hot frying pan, topped with a crispy fried egg. If you have loads of leftover vegetables then combine these with stock to make a quick soup.

Rather than storing lumps of leftover meat, take the time to slice the meat into portions before freezing. You will be thanking your past self when you take it out of the freezer, as it makes life so much easier on you when defrosting.

Lunchboxes, unused takeout trays and even empty butter wrappers are ideal for storing cooked items in the freezer. Don’t forget to mark up what you stash with the date of freezing and what exactly is contained within the parcels though.

Black Forest Trifle

recipe by:Caitriona Redmond 

I’m not sure if I can really call this recipe a classic trifle as I’m working with some prepared ingredients for this recipe. Crucially, it’s super-easy to assemble and will wow any guests at the last minute!

Servings

8

Preparation Time

 30 mins

Cooking Time

 15 mins

Total Time

 45 mins

Course

 Dessert

Ingredients

• 250g chocolate chip biscuits (shop bought are fine)

• 3 tbsp chocolate hazelnut spread

• 450g pitted black cherries in syrup

• 2 medium free range egg yolks

• 300ml whole fat milk

• 2 tbsp cocoa powder

• 1 tbsp caster sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 450ml whipped cream

• 100g dark chocolate

Method

1. Sandwich the chocolate chip biscuits together by spreading one side with hazelnut spread. Lay them out on the bottom of a large trifle dish. Pour the syrup from the black cherries on top of the biscuits and allow that to soak into the biscuits.

2. Pour the milk into the saucepan along with the vanilla extract and heat slowly until scalding but not boiling. In the small bowl combine the egg yolks, sugar and cocoa powder. Once the milk is hot start whisking with the bell whisk and pour in the egg yolk mixture.

3. Keep on whisking until the chocolate custard starts to thicken. It will become very thick. Pour the thickened custard over the biscuits in the trifle dish. Sprinkle half the black cherries on top. Cover the dish allow the contents to cool to room temperature.

4. Once the custard has cooled, grate in half the dark chocolate. Spoon the whipped cream on top then decorate with the remaining cherries. Finally, grate the rest of the dark chocolate on top.

5. Put the trifle into the fridge to cool for at least 3 hours before serving.