A Trifle More

My all-time favourite use for Crème Chocolat - apart from spooning it straight into my mouth, it goes without saying - is as a yummy component in trifle-style desserts.

This luscious chocolate pudding is remarkable not only because it is so effortless to stir together, but because of the succinct list of ingredients, an elegant quartet - cream, sugar, chocolate, egg yolks. I think this sheer simplicity adds all the more to the aspect of nursery food charm about it, although the unctuous, comforting mouthfeel certainly makes the hit of sophisticated chocolate flavour being delivered all the more surprising.

Versatility is yet another virtue of this recipe; I've used it as a filling for everything from chocolate layer cakes to shortbread cookies to tarts. But, truly, its onctueuse nature makes it ideal for lending textural interest - not to mention glamour - to that good old-fashioned delight known as the trifle.

In this lineup, I've included a Black Forest Trifle, a take on that retro-licious cake classic. Crème Chocolat is layered with Kirsch whipped cream, preserved wild sour cherries, and boudoir biscuits laced with Kirsch syrup.

The key is to use good quality cherry eau-de-vie, and good quality preserved cherries.

Where the latter is concerned, griottes may be the traditional choice - and I may possibly get stoned by Black Forest Cake purists for saying the following - but my personal absolute favourite preserved cherries to use are Amarena Fabbri. As much as I adore the distinctive and signature blue-and-white packaging, what has me completely sold is what lies within the jar - small, plump, succulent amarena (wild sour black cherries) carefully candied in thick amarena syrup. They are the perfect balance of tart and sweet. I always have a jar handy in the fridge, as they are wonderful (and quick) for dressing up all sorts of desserts; I especially like it for topping cheesecake (like the vanilla bean cheesecake cups here), panna cotta, and ice cream. If you reside here, you can pick it up at the school.

And speaking of retro, I really couldn't resist adding a chocolatey version of that tratt-era pudding icon. The Chocoholic’s Tiramisu features all those elements you love about a great tiramisu - billowy mascarpone cream, bourdoir biscuits spiked with strong espresso and lashings of tasty booze, dark sultry cocoa - with Crème Chocolat added to amp up the chocolate quotient.

The above will feature in Ultimate Chocolate Treats I, a demo class, that I'll be teaching at Shermay's Cooking School on 14 March 2009 (Saturday), 15 March 2009 (Sunday), 28 March 2009 (Saturday) and 29 March 2009 (Sunday) - the March schedule has all the necessary details. For all inquiries, please call the school at +65 6479 8442 or email shermaycs@yahoo.com.sg