The ultimate Christmas panettone trifle

Want your pudding to be the life of the party this year? Festive desserts don’t have to be a lavish ordeal and with this quick and easy Christmas trifle you’ll be layering up a tasty storm in minutes. By using a classic Italian panettone, you don’t even have to get hot and bothered baking sponge cake. This is a trifle to beat them all.

Panettone-final

Ingredients

Serves 10–12

600–800g panettone, we used panettone from Loison, cut into 1.5cm slices
100ml Frangelico or coffee
100g toasted hazelnuts
300g raspberries or cherries, plus a few extra for decoration
250g mascarpone
500g cream cheese
385g tin condensed milk
Juice of 2 lemons
250ml cream
220g (1 cup) icing sugar
1 vanilla pod, split lengthways and seeds scraped

Method:

1. Place half the slices of panettone in the base of a trifle dish or bowl. Press them into the shape of the dish with your fingertips. Sprinkle over a layer of berries and the toasted hazelnuts.

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2. Now add a good drizzle of Frangelico or coffee, if you want a non-alcoholic version.

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3. Repeat with another layer of panettone, berries and nuts. Drench properly in remaining liqueur.

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4. Allow to soak for 10–15 minutes.
5. Whisk together the mascarpone, cream cheese, condensed milk, lemon juice, cream, icing sugar and vanilla seeds. Spoon this mixture over the cake.

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6. Cover with cling film, place in the fridge and allow to set for a couple of hours.

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Top with fresh berries and nuts and serve. This delicious Christmas pudding is best made a few hours before serving, so that the cake is still fresh and tasty.

With thanks to Jules Mercer for her beautiful recipes and styling.