A chai pear trifle fit for the Jubilee celebrations
“Great British Bakeoff” fan favorite Crystelle Pereira shows "GMA" how to whip up a proper English trifle.
Enjoy this classic layered dessert with chai mascarpone cream and pears for the Platinum Jubilee.
Chai, Pear and Almond Trifle
Chai poached pears
2 English breakfast tea bags
125 g caster sugar
1 cm piece (5g) of ginger
1 stick cinnamon
8 cardamom pods
7 conference pears
6 cloves
900 ml water
1/4 cup maple syrup
Chai crème diplomat
140 g caster sugar
40 g cornflour/cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
Yolks from 6 large eggs
720 ml whole milk
1 vanilla pod/1 tbsp vanilla bean paste
2 English breakfast tea bags
8 cloves
16 cardamom
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp ground ginger
100 ml double cream
Almond Joconde (Can be subbed for shop bought Madeira cake/almond cake)
100 g almond flour
85 g icing sugar
29 g cake flour
3 large eggs
3 whole egg whites
14 g caster sugar
35 g melted coconut oil
1/4 tsp almond extract
Mascarpone Whipped Cream
500 g mascarpone cheese
200 g double cream
4 tablespoons runny blossom honey
20 grams icing/confectioners’ sugar
3 tbsp vanilla bean paste
Garnish:
Flaked almonds
Sprinkle of cinnamon
Directions
To make the Almond Joconde: Preheat your oven to 375 degrees (fan assisted).
Add coconut oil to a bowl and microwave for 1 minute until melted. Leave to one side to cool.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk 3 egg whites until foamy, then gradually add 14 g caster sugar until soft peaks.
Switch to another bowl, and add in 3 eggs, 85 g icing sugar, ¼ tsp almond extract and whisk on high until ribbon stage.
In a separate bowl, mix together 100 g almond flour and 29 g cake flour.
Once the egg mixture has reached ribbon stage, fold in the dry ingredients in 3 additions.
After all dry ingredients are incorporated, remove a few tbsp of the mixture and whisk together with the cooled coconut oil, then fold this back into the mixture.
Finally, fold in the meringue in three additions.
Pour the batter into a deep, rectangular cake tin and bake for 12 minutes, until springy and lightly golden, and skewer comes out clean.
Leave this to cool, then cut it into 1 inch cubes.
Transfer 100g flaked almonds to a frying pan on a low heat and toast these for about 5 minutes until lightly golden. Remove and set aside.
To make the Poached Pears: In a large, heavy bottomed saucepan, add the cloves, cinnamon and cardamom and place on a low heat for 7 minutes. Remove the cardamom, bash to release the pods and place back in the pan.
Next, add 2 English breakfast tea bags, 1 cm piece (5 g) of ginger and pour over 900 ml water.
Next, add 125 grams caster sugar and a quarter cup maple syrup and bring to a boil.
While this is heating, peel and quarter the pears and remove the core.
Once boiling, turn the heat on low, place the pears in the liquid and cook for 15-20 minutes, until the pears can be pierced through with a knife.
Remove the pears, and cut into chunks, and leave to cool.
With the remaining syrup, bring this to a boil and leave this to reduce by half and thickened. Set this aside whilst you make the Chai crème diplomat.
To make the Chai Crème Diplomat: In a large, heavy bottomed saucepan, add 8 cloves, 16 cardamom pods, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1.5 cinnamon sticks and 1 tsp ground ginger and toast these on a low heat for 7 minutes.
Transfer these to a mortar and pestle (or spice grinder) and blitz to form a fine powder.
Transfer back to the pot along with 720 ml milk, 2 English breakfast tea bags and 1 tbsp vanilla bean paste and bring this to a simmer over a medium heat.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the 140g sugar, 40g cornflour, ½ tsp salt and 6 egg yolks in a mixing bowl until pale and smooth, about 1 minute.
When the chai milk comes to a simmer, remove it from the heat. Slowly pour the hot milk into the yolk mixture a splash at a time, whisking constantly.
Transfer the mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes until it begins to bubble and thicken, and coats the back of a spoon.
Push the custard through a sieve into a large tray, and leave this to cool.
Once cool, whip the double cream to soft peaks, and fold this through the custard until no streaks remain.
To assemble: In a large trifle dish, scatter over the pieces of cake along with half of the flaked almonds.
Next spoon over about half of the chai syrup all over the cake. Next, scatter over the poached pears until the cake is completely covered. Then, pour over the chai custard and flatten this out. Place this in the fridge to chill whilst we make the mascarpone cream.
To make the Mascarpone Cream: First, whip the double cream with a whisk until soft peaks (make sure not to over whisk).
In a separate bowl, beat the mascarpone with icing sugar, honey and vanilla until smooth. Finally, fold the cream into the mascarpone.
You can either pipe the cream or just spread it with a palette knife on top of the custard.
To garnish, scatter over the remaining flaked almonds and sprinkle over cinnamon.
Serve with the remaining syrup if you like and enjoy.
