Pallant Cafe Gingerbread & Rhubarb Trifle

For the custard:

600ml double cream
6 egg yolks
75g caster sugar
1 vanilla pod

Split the vanilla pods lengthways and bring the cream to a simmer, remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 5 minutes. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together and slowly pour the cream over the egg mix. Return to the heat and gently cook until it coats the back of a spoon. Pass through a sieve and leave to cool to fridge temperature.

For the rhubarb:

500g rhubarb
1 orange
25ml white wine
100g sugar

Trim and cut the rhubarb into chunks and cook gently over a low heat with the zest of an orange, white wine and sugar until soft. Taste the rhubarb, you want a slightly tart flavour that will complement the sweet custard and cream in the trifle. Pass the rhubarb and cool. You will only need the poached rhubarb but make sure to save the liquid to use in another recipe. Its great reduced into a coulis or added to prosecco for a summer drink!

For the Chantilly Cream:

300ml double cream
75g icing sugar
1 vanilla pod, split and seeds removed

Whisk the double cream with icing sugar and vanilla seeds until stiff peaks, taste to ensure it is sweet enough, add more sugar if needed and then spoon into a piping bag ready to use.

To assemble

To assemble the trifle, layer small pieces of Horsham gingerbread with the poached rhubarb, the custard and then pipe on the cream. Garnish with some chocolate shavings to finish. We serve ours in a martini glass but any glass that shows off the layers will work well.