mocha peach trifle

in the last few weeks, thoriq had been pestering me to make him some trifle, specifically the one with mocha and peach. i was going to do it before i left for my last trip to baling to see thaqif, but i was out of cream. and after that i decided to make chocolate chips for thaqif and thoriq basically had to wait for another week before mommy got her act together. i finally made some last monday and instead of a big bowl for the boys, i separated it into two bowls, with one being for my dearest friend vanessa and her family. when she heard me mention the trifle the last time, she was going "i want some too" and i would not be able to forgive myself if i made the trifle without giving her any. so the initial plan of one big bowl of trifle became two smaller bowls and believe it or not, the trifle i made in the evening lasted only until lunch time the next day. oh well, there goes my plan of having a few days of trifle. regardless what is important, i made thoriq happy and eventhough vanessa did not enjoy it as much as i was hoping (her complain being maybe too much mocha custard, which is weird because she is a coffee person and that is the reason she wanted it in the first place), i believed her boys and husband C enjoyed the trifle to a pretty far extent. anyhow, after posting the pics of the trifle, i was flooded (well i am exaggerating a little there) with requests for the recipe from friends. infact in the last few weeks, i have been recieving requests for a number of recipes including this chocolate chips i made for thaqif using oatmeal and three types of nuts. well i will post that recipe up and some pictures too to share here but for today, should you feel the need to have some trifle with a mix of mocha and chocolate, here goes:

1. coffee sponge cake
6 eggs
225 gm castor sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1 tbsp instant coffee, dissolve in a little hot water
225 gm all purpose flour
in a heatproof bowl, placed over a pot of simmering water, beat eggs, sugar, vanilla essence and instant coffee until slightly warm, about 55C/130F. transfer to a cake mixture and beat vigorously until fairly cool. sift flour into the batter in small batches and mix well. pour the batter into a 24cm cake pan lined with greased parchment paper and bake for 25mins at 185C/365F.


2. sugar syrup
1/2 cup castor sugar
1/4 cup water
4 tbsp kahlua liquer ( i use 1 tbsp vanilla essence as a substitute. can use coffee flavouring if you have any. otherwise, can also omit)
bring sugar and water to a simmer. cool before flavouring with kahlua (or vanilla or coffee flavouring)


3. mocha custard
4 cups fresh milk
2 tbsp instant coffee
10 egg yolks
2 tbsp custard powder
100 gm butter, chilled and diced
bring milk and instant coffee to a simmer in a saucepan. in a separate bowl beat egg yolks with sugar and custard powder until fluffy. add half of the warm milk from the saucepan. stir to mix and pour back into the saucepan with the remaining milk. stir and continue cooking until the custard boils and begins to thicken. remove the heat and add the chilled butter. stir until dissolved. chill the custard before use.


4. chocolate cream
200 gm bittersweet chocolate
1 cup whipping cream
place chocolate and whipping cream in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. stir until the chocolate melts. remove from the heat.


to assemble:
you need coffee sponge cake, sugar syrup, mocha custard, chocolate cream and you also need 1000 gm canned cling peaches, drain ed (about 3 to 4 cans of halved or/and sliced peaches. i use masterchef brand. i like putting halved as layers and the sliced ones on top. alternatively, i also use the halved ones when i do not have the sliced ones available).


place slices of coffee sponge cake at the base of trifle bowl. drizzle with sugar syrup. arrange a layer of peaches over the syrup. top with custard and drizzle with chocolate cream. repeat until all the ingredients are used, ending with a layer of peaches. (i top choclate cream on the final layer before peaches and drizzle bits mpre on the last layer of peaches). chill overnight before serving. but if you cannot wait just like my boys, chill for at least a few hours  or one if in urgent need, before you start eating.


**psssttt...time for a confession. i do not bake the coffee sponge cake. i kinda cheated and got a coffee swiss roll from the neighbourhood bakery instead. cannot find any existing or available coffee sponge cake so far, but hey it's worked well so far. if you want to bake the cake, then the recipe is up there, so bake away. have fun trying and happy eating.