The Proof is in the pudding...

June has to be one of my favourite months of the year for many reasons: it means Christmas is only another six months away, it’s my birthday, so I get some lovely presents to keep me going until Santa makes his next debut, but most importantly of all, (and this down to being a food lover), there are some delicious ingredients back in season.

This month, we see the return of the strawberry and raspberry – two of my favourite fruits. As children, on visits to our grandparents, in order to avoid the tedious grown up chit-chat, my sisters and I would often hide away in Grandpa’s berry patch, only to be found hours later redder than red and bellies filled to the brim with these delicious fruits.

One of my cherished childhood memories involves spending many glorious afternoons during the Summer holidays out strawberry picking at the local ‘pick your own’. Though, unfortunately to Mum’s embarrassment, we would always return for ‘weigh in’ with near to empty boxes and expressing satisfied looks on our once again redder than red faces. At the time me managed to get away with it, the grower thought our ‘innocent’ beaming smiles were adorable; however, now in my 20’s, I have recently found this to no longer be the case, let alone pulled off quite so easily.

Strawberries and raspberries are often used as key ingredients in a variety of recipes, however on this occasion I am focusing on one of my favourite areas of food – puddings. Sir Winston Churchill famously once said, ‘Take away that pudding – it has no theme’. However, if Sir Winston were here for the Diamond Jubilee festivities of the past few weeks, I don’t think he’d be complaining about a lack of theme!

As well as honouring Her Majesty’s 60 years of reign, it has also been a time for feasting on the “Best of British”; celebrating the finest edible delights this country has to offer by keeping it seasonal and supporting local. Nobody throws a street party quite like Blighty, and we love to mark an occasion of celebration with a good old fashioned get-together for family, friends and the local community -a time for giving and sharing, whilst taking pleasure in celebrating traditional British values.

With the Queen still celebrating her Jubilee with a tour of Britain, the festivities are yet to draw to a close. So don’t not clear away the bunting and let’s carry on the party, starting with a fantastic traditional British pud, bought to our table to mark a variety of occasions. This recipe carries my own seasonal twist, one I think Sir Winston would approve of; I give you my special strawberry and elderflower trifle. And with regards to theme, I guarantee the proof is in the pudding!

                   Strawberry & Elderflower Trifle

Serves 8-10 generously

Ingredients:

600g strawberries (save good ones for garnishing)

1 lemon, juiced

160 g caster sugar

200ml elderflower cordial

200ml sweet sherry

500g custard

2tsp vanilla essence

300 g mascarpone

350 g Madeira cake, cut into 1inch slices

350ml whipped cream, to decorate

Raspberries/blueberries to decorate (optional)

Method:

In a deep glass bowl (roughly 10in width/5in deep), line the bottom with Madeira cake

Mix elderflower cordial and sweet sherry; pour over the cake, leaving to absorb for an hour or overnight in the fridge

Purée half the strawberries with lemon juice, 100g of the sugar and then pass through a sieve

Toss the purée with remaining strawberries – put aside

Mix remaining sugar into the mascarpone - do not overwork, the mixture will split

Carefully stir in the custard and vanilla essence gradually and set aside

Assemble the trifle by putting a layer of strawberry mixture onto the cake, followed by a generous layer of custard mixture and then repeat the layers once again (this is why it’s important to use a deep dish, if not, one layer of each will be fine!)

Finish off with whipped cream (pipe it to create fancy patterns), decorate with berries and put in the fridge to set for an hour

This dish can be made a day in advance, and stored in the fridge (although leave decorating with cream until day of consumption!)

For more recipes and tips, follow me on Twitter - @ShelleDuffin or Facebook – Shelle Duffin – Food Writer/Cook