Recipe by Georgia East 

"Always the star of a festive table, trifle is a great dessert to throw together just before serving as most of the components can be prepared ahead of time. This version omits the traditional jelly and custard combination for a brownie base topped with decadent chocolate pudding, Swiss roll, chocolate mousse, meringue and whipped cream.

A dessert this rich and chocolately is best served with the 2021 La Motte Millennium for the ultimate after-dinner experience." 

Triple Chocolate Trifle

Prep time: 1 hour /Cook time: 1 hour /Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:

• 1L readymade chocolate pudding or chocolate custard
• 1L tub of chocolate mousse
• 500ml whipping cream
• 2 tablespoons caster sugar
• Readymade vanilla Swiss rolls, cut into 3mm rounds
• Cocoa powder, for dusting

For the brownie base:

• 100g butter
• 200g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
• 4 eggs
• 250g sugar
• 100g cake flour
• 1t baking powder
• 30g cocoa powder
• 100g white chocolate, roughly chopped
• 100g pecan nuts, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 180°C with fan or 160°C without. Find a baking dish that matches the base of your trifle bowl and line it with baking paper. Should you not have a matching dish, the brownie base can be trimmed to size after baking. A 20cm to 24cm dish or skillet works best. Melt the butter in the microwave and the chocolate in a bowl over simmering water. Whisk the butter into the melted chocolate and leave to cool to room temperature.

Whisk the eggs and sugar together until light and fluffy and fold in the melted chocolate mixture. Sift in the flour, baking powder and cocoa and fold until combined.

Carefully stir in the chopped white chocolate and pecan nuts and pour the batter into the baking dish. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the middle is just set – the brownie base needs to be fudgy. Cool the brownie completely before removing from the dish and cutting to size.

For the chocolate swirl meringues:

• 3 XL egg whites, at room temperature
• 150g caster sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon white vinegar
• 150g dark chocolate, melted

Preheat the oven to 100°C. In a metal or glass mixing bowl, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. While whisking, add in the caster sugar in stages. Whisk in the vanilla extract and vinegar and continue whisking until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in the melted dark chocolate, taking care not to overmix the egg white. Spoon the meringue into little dollops on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Bake the meringues for 60 minutes and leave to cool on the tray before using.

To assemble the trifle:

Sweeten the cream the caster sugar and whip to stiff peaks. Place the brownie into the base of your trifle dish and arrange the Swiss roll slices around the perimeter. Pour in the chocolate pudding/chocolate custard and top with a layer of whipped cream. Crumble over some of the meringues and top with a layer of chocolate mousse. Repeat, finishing with dollops of whipped cream and chocolate mousse. Dust over a little cocoa powder and refrigerate until ready to serve.

The trifle is best served within 2-3 hours after assembling it.