Almond trifle

Method

1 Put the juice of two of the oranges and the caster sugar into a pan on a medium heat. Simmer until reduced to 50ml of syrup. Arrange the sponges on the base of a 20cm trifle dish at least 7cm deep, cutting them to fit and squeezing them in. Splash the syrup over. Place the jam in a bowl and work with a spoon until smooth, then spread over the sponges.

2 Peel and segment the other two oranges, and scatter over the sponges. Arrange the amaretti biscuits on top.

3 To make the syllabub, whisk the orange zest and juice with the lemon juice, sherry, amaretto and icing sugar in a large bowl. Slowly whisk in the cream until you have a light, fluffy syllabub, then smooth over the trifle base. Cover with clingfilm and chill overnight to allow it to firm up and let the juices continue to soak into the trifl e sponges.

4 Toast the almonds in a baking dish in a preheated oven for 7-8min at 200°C (180°C fan, gas mark 6). Just before serving, scatter the toasted almonds, plus a few amaretti biscuits, over the trifle, and dust with icing sugar.

Cook's note

Be careful not to over-whisk the syllabub, otherwise it can separate. A handheld electric whisk works well.