How are you today? Life is getting back to normal again after the holidays and conversation at work has already moved on to where everyone is going for their summer break 😊
Winter hasn't let go of us yet though but, hopefully, it won't be long till it does. I love spring honeys, I adore it. I love to watch the garden wake up from it's (too) long winter nap and burst into colour again with the roses and the lavender appearing.
We didn't have much of a summer at all last year so I'm hoping against hope that we're luckier this year and have lots (or even a little) sunshine so that we can get some work done in the garden. We still have plans for a little seating area near the back door, under the kitchen windows and I'd like to plant more lavender this year.
The lavender was very popular last summer with visiting bees so I'm very much hoping the addition of some more lavender, as well as the bee hotels we have in the front and back gardens and their tiny drinking fountain will create a little safe oasis for our bee friends 🐝
During this week I decided to make a very rare treat for dessert. Well, it was the holidays after all, so for New Year's Day I made a chocolate trifle...
I have to admit I did forget to buy a chocolate Swiss roll and to be honest I was too tired to bake one so I cheated a little by substituting cookies instead but I'm actually glad I did because it was absolutely delicious 😋
Let's take a look then shall we? Why not go make a lovely cuppa honeys, and maybe grab a cookie or two, and I'll share how I created our yummy New Year's Day treat. See you back here in a few minutes...
Welcome back dear ones. Do you have your cuppa? Me too ☕ 😊 Put your feet up then and enjoy your cuppa and we'll take a look at how to make the easiest, and most delicious, chocolate trifle...
Easiest, Yummiest Chocolate Trifle
Serves 6-8 chocolate loving loved ones 💖
Ingredients
2 packs of Angel Delight (chocolate flavour of course)
2 pints of fresh, chilled milk (one pint to make up the Angel Delight & one pint to make our custard)
2 tablespoons of custard powder
3-4 teaspoons of cocoa powder
1 small chocolate Swiss roll or a few chocolate chip cookies
Fresh double cream (whipped) or canned whipped cream
Chocolate sprinkles to decorate
Directions
1. Add one pint of chilled milk to a large bowl. Use whichever type of milk you prefer honeys, just make sure it's chilled. Hubby prefers full fat milk and since he's happy with all of my other efforts to make our diet healthier I don't mind so much 😊
I used a 3 pint glass bowl to make up the mousse in because that's the bowl I was going to use to serve the trifle in and it saves on a step, that of making the mousse and then moving it into a serving dish.
2. sprinkle over the two packets of mousse powder. I used Angel Delight but there are other brands and all would be equally fine to use honeys. Use a small "balloon" whisk or even if you prefer a small electric hand mixer to mix the powder through the milk until it's combined with the milk and begins to thicken...
3. Now, ordinarily I would now fetch my small chocolate sponge cake Swiss roll and cut a few slices to add to the mousse before it sets but I had forgotten to add one to the shopping list and after all of the cooking over the holidays I couldn't bring myself to make one either. If you'd like to make a Swiss roll, you can find a step by step here.
Instead I went to the biscuit tin and fetched some lovely chocolate chip cookies...
4. The chocolate chip cookies were then crumbled into the bowl with the chocolate mousse...
5. The cookies were then folded/stirred through the chocolate mousse. I then covered the bowl with a little cling film and popped it into the fridge. As it sits in the fridge it will continue to thicken a little more.
Now that the chocolate mousse is done honeys, we have to make our custard.
6. Into a small bowl add approximately 2 tablespoons of custard powder. From your other pint of milk, add a little to the bowl with the custard powder. Not too much at first, just enough to make a paste of the custard powder.
Add just a little more milk to the bowl and stir through to make sure your custard paste isn't too "stiff." Place the bowl to one side for a few minutes.
7. Add the rest of the milk to a saucepan and place on the stove to warm through, stirring to prevent it burning. Be very careful honeys not to splash any milk while stirring, and be aware that milk can overheat quickly and bowl over the sides of the saucepan.
8. When the milk is warmed through, very carefully add a little of the warm, not hot, milk to your bowl with the custard paste from earlier and carefully stir to combine. Add a little more if necessary and then pour the contents of the bowl into the pot with the rest of the warm milk.
9. Return the saucepan to the stove and stir continuously over a medium heat until the custard thickens. When the custard has thickened, remove the saucepan from the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes before, very carefully, adding your cocoa powder. I just used my favourite hot chocolate powder honeys.
Again, being careful not to splash yourself, mix the cocoa powder through the custard to make your chocolate flavoured custard...
10. Allow the custard to cool completely, then give it another whisk. Does anyone else really dislike that "skin" that forms over the top of custard as it cools?
When whisked again, fetch your lovely bowl of chocolate mousse from the fridge, remove the cling film and add your yummy chocolate custard to the bowl on top of your now set mousse...
11. While you don't absolutely have to, honeys, I usually at this stage, cover the bowl with cling film again and return it to the fridge for a wee while, just to let it settle/set.
All that's left to do now then, is to add your whipped cream as a final layer to complete your delicious chocolate trifle, adding of course, your little chocolate sprinkles.
Tip: If you're making this ahead of time, store in the fridge until it's time to serve before adding the cream and definitely don't add the chocolate sprinkles until just before serving because they can sometimes try to sink and disappear from sight which looks decidedly odd 😊
There we have it honeys. One delicious dessert that's sure to impress loved ones and definitely impress dinner guests (What? Oh this? I whipped it up in no time..." 😊)
I hope you've had the best time over the holidays honeys and I wish for you the very best new year, full of all good things and all of the happiness in the world 💖
Till next time, have a wonderful weekend dear ones, smile lots and hug even more, hugs always x
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