Matt Tebbutt’s Christmas Panettone Trifle
Matt Tebbutt's trifle features layers of fruits steeped in marsala, custard, a ricotta cream, and panettone. It's the perfect way to use up any leftover panettone and makes for a fantastic alternative to Christmas pudding.
Introduction
Panettone has become a popular gift in this country at Christmas. I often find myself with a few in the house. It is light and fruity so it makes a perfect trifle base. This recipe uses dried fruit instead of fresh or tinned, to give it a rich, Christmas-pudding feel.
Ingredients
For the Christmas fruit: | |
---|---|
100g | Medjool dates, stoned |
100g | prunes |
100g | dried apricots |
100g | candied peel |
100g | dried cranberries |
100g | raisins |
zest and juice of 1 unwaxed orange | |
100g | pecan nuts, chopped |
100g | whole almonds, chopped |
1 stick | cinnamon |
½ | nutmeg, grated |
½ tsp | ground mixed spice |
750ml | Marsala |
For the trifle filling: | |
2 | free-range eggs, separated |
100g | icing sugar |
50ml | Marsala |
500g | good-quality ricotta, such as Westcombe |
To assemble: | |
1 | panettone |
100ml | Marsala |
2–3 | clementines, peeled and segmented |
seeds of 1 pomegranate | |
400ml | custard |
100g | pistachio slivers |
Method
Preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F/Gas 3.
Place all the Christmas fruits ingredients into an ovenproof dish with a lid and pour the Marsala over. Bake in the oven with the lid on for 3 hours. Add some water if necessary, to stop it drying out.
To make the trifle filling, in a bowl, beat the egg yolks with the icing sugar until thick and pale. Add the Marsala and ricotta and mix well.
Whisk the egg whites in a separate bowl until stiff peaks form when the whisk is removed from the bowl. Fold the egg whites through the Marsala and ricotta mixture.
To assemble the trifle, cut the panettone to fit the size of your trifle serving dish (preferably made of glass). Douse with the Marsala and top with some of the cooled, cooked fruits and some of the clementines and pomegranate seeds. Spoon over a layer of the custard and then the ricotta cream. Repeat the layers again to build up the trifle. Finish with the pistachio slivers and more pomegranate seeds for decoration. Serve.