Gooseberry and banana bread trifle

I have to assume that everyone does it to make myself feel a little better. I'm talking about buying too much food. After years of following recipes for four from cookbooks, I've become so accustomed to large portions and wasted food, I'm perpetually guilty. We are often told through magazines and TV shows, of domestic types who waste nothing, saving prawn shells for stock, (tried it - the shells sat in the freezer for 3 years), stale bread for breadcrumbs, (I always worry that it's a bit too non-frozen), chicken carcasses for stock, (this I do try to do) and various other thrifty and soul enhancing food resourcefulness. But, I wonder how many of us actually do waste nothing. If you have some porkers in the backyard then you're on to a winner, of course. For me at least, this recipe provided a little relief from food wastage hell. Trifle is the kind of dessert that can be thrown together with whatever is on hand and still taste delicious and indulgent. Banana bread getting slightly past it's best and heading towards the garbage, a tub of creme fraiche bought in impulse and sitting on the fridge shelf mocking me and two tubs of gooseberries, one pink, one green, bought because they were so pretty, all had redemption in this dish.

If you work on the premise that a trifle is basically three or four layers comprising a spongy or jelly-like bottom, an optional layer of fruit, some sort of custard, blancmange or cream and some sort of topping, whether it be fruit, nuts, sprinkles or dried fruit, you can see that the possibilities are endless. Don't get bogged down by tradition or what is right for this dessert, just invent your own interpretation and experiment.

Recipe : Trifle

Obviously, I'm going to list the ingredients I used for this trifle, but it's unlikely you'll have exactly the same things to hand, so adapt with whatever you have.

1/2 a loaf of banana bread

2 cups of gooseberries

1/2 cup sugar or other sweetener such as honey or agave nectar

1 tub of creme fraiche 

4 tbsp sugar or other sweetener

2 tbsp dried apricots, shredded

Place the gooseberries and 1/2 cup of sugar in a pan over medium heat and slowly bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally until the mixture is thick and jam like. Taste and add a little more sugar if it's very tart or just to your own liking. Set aside to let cool slightly.

Cut the banana bread into slices and lay in the bottom of a glass dish. Cover this with one half of the gooseberry mixture and set aside to allow the jam to soak into the bread.

Sweeten the creme fraiche with the sugar or other sweetener and stir well. Spoon half of this over the bread and gooseberries, then spoon the rest of the gooseberry mixture over this, saving about 1 tbsp.

Layer the trifle with the remaining creme fraiche and drizzle the reserved 1 tbsp gooseberry jam over the top. Finish by sprinkling the dried apricots over everything, cover and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight before serving. Trifle is one of the dishes that improves with a little time to 'settle'.

You may also like:

 Gooseberry fool

Trifle tips