When life gives you cherries, make black forest trifle! That’s the saying, isn’t it? It was certainly what came to mind when I got some beautiful cherries from The Fresh Fruit Shop. This is such an indulgent dessert, taking elements of the classic trifle and jazzing it up with the flavours of chocolate and sweet, dark cherries.

It’s super rich, so you don’t need a lot of it, although you’ll want to keep eating it! For this recipe, I’m using swiss roll because why the well not, along with some beautiful cherry brandy to give it some extra oomph. Let me know if you decide to make it – comment below and be sure to tag me in your photos  @theglasgowdiet on Instagram

Black Forest Trifle

Ingredients (serves 6)
200g chocolate swiss roll, cut into slices
3-4 tbsp of cherry brandy or kirsch
200g black or morello cherry jam
200g fresh cherries, cut in half, stones removed
350ml double cream, whipped
500ml whole milk
125g caster sugar
6 egg yolks
2 tbsp cornflour
2 tsp cocoa powder
100g good-quality milk chocolate, roughly chopped

Method
1. First, make the custard by placing the milk and half of the sugar in a saucepan and heat until almost boiling, stirring occasionally to prevent it catching. Meanwhile, in another bowl, whisk the egg yolks, remaining sugar, cornflour and cocoa powder together.
2. Pour about one third of the hot milk mixture onto the egg mixture and whisk to combine, then pour it all back into the pan with the remaining milk. Whisk constantly over a medium heat until thick (it’s ok if it bubbles/boils slightly for the first minute or two). It should take about 5-10 minutes to thicken.
3. Take it off the heat, whisk in the chopped chocolate and stir until well combined and smooth. Pour into a bowl and place a piece of cling film directly onto the top of the custard to stop a skin forming. Place in the fridge to cool completely.
4. To assemble, line the bottom of your custard bowl with the swiss roll, then pour the cherry brandy over, letting it soak into the sponge. Add a thin layer of the chocolate custard, then top this with the cherry jam and most of the cherries. Top with the remaining chocolate custard, then finish with the whipped cream. Scatter over the remaining cherries and some grated chocolate and place in the fridge until ready to serve. Then dig in and enjoy!