Caramelised orange and marmalade trifle recipe

Put 14g gelatine leaves in a bowl of cold water. Leave for about 10 minutes until they become soft.

Put 550ml fresh orange juice and 4 tbsp of the caster sugar in a saucepan and heat until it’s hand warm.

Lift the gelatine out of the water, gently squeezing out the excess, and add to the warm juice. Stir to help the gelatine dissolve while still on the heat, but don’t heat the juice too much as that will inhibit the gelatine’s setting properties.

Add 50ml Cointreau.

Pour into a glass trifle bowl, cover with cling film and put in the fridge to set. It’ll take about 3 hours.

Meanwhile, peel, halve and core 2 Bramley apples. Cut the flesh into 3mm slices.

Add 2 tbsp water and the remaining 2 tbsp caster sugar. Cover with a lid and set over a low-medium heat.

Let the apples cook for 10-12 minutes until just tender, checking every so often to make sure they’re not too dry (it’s easy to forget them until you smell them burning!). Crush some with the back of a wooden spoon to help them fall apart, but leave other slices intact (otherwise it’ll all end up like baby food). Remove from the heat and allow to cool.

To make the caramel, put 115g granulated sugar and 175ml water in a medium saucepan (you need room as the sugar syrup really bubbles up).

Melt the sugar over a gentle heat. When it has dissolved, turn the heat up and boil the mixture until it gets to the caramel stage. Do not stir.

It should smell toasted and nutty, and turn the colour of sherry. Once this happens, add 75ml water and stand well back (the sugar will spit).

Stir until the mixture is smooth, then pour into a jug and leave to cool completely.

Slice the bottom and top off 5 small oranges so that each one can sit flat. Using a sharp knife, remove the peel and white pith in strips, cutting from top to bottom and working your way round each orange.

Cut the flesh as neatly as you can into slices about ½cm thick (don’t worry about any untidy slices, they’ll still be useful). Place in a bowl and pour the cool caramel over them. Cover and leave for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, for the custard, put 6 egg yolks, 50g caster sugar and 2 tbsp cornflour in a large heatproof bowl and mix well with a wooden spoon.

Heat 300ml milk and 200ml double cream in a large saucepan until just below boiling.

Remove from the heat, leave to cool a little then slowly pour this onto the sugar and egg mixture, whisking continuously.

Wash the pan then add the egg and cream mixture to it and heat, without boiling, until the mixture has thickened considerably. It should be as thick as school custard.

Stir in 1 tsp vanilla extract. If any lumps appear, whisk the mixture until it’s smooth. Pour into a large bowl and cover with cling film. Leave to cool completely.

To assemble the trifle, cut your 300g sponge cake into slices and use them to form a 3-4cm layer on top of the set jelly, cutting them further if necessary to fit (the outer edge should be neat but it doesn’t matter what the cake looks like in the middle).

Spread the top of the cake pieces with 300g marmalade, then spoon over the caramel (leaving the orange slices behind) and 75ml sherry.

Use your neatest caramelised orange slices to carefully line the sides of the bowl.

Chop the rest (or leave in slices if you prefer) and spread over the sponges, then spoon the stewed apples on top, making sure that the vertical orange slices stay intact.

Add the custard in a layer on top of the apples then cover the bowl and put in the fridge until ready to serve (ideally overnight).

Just before you want to serve, whip 400ml double cream until it’s holding its shape, then add icing sugar to taste. Add a splash of Cointreau, too, if you want to.

Dollop the cream on top of the trifle to form luxurious waves, then decorate with the candied orange peel, and with edible gold balls if you fancy.