Choc Berry Trifle

I am not a trifle fan, actually the only person I know who is is Shane, so it might seem weird that I decided to make a trifle for a Christmas BBQ but he’s been asking me to make one for a while so I finally decided to take up the challenge and come up with a trifle that I could enjoy too! It is really easy to make and is visually impressive, it just takes a bit of prep time (and bake time if you want to make your own cake – you could buy one, even a chocolate log would work if you are short on time). This trifle is is alcohol free so is kid friendly too.

Ingredients:
x1 20cm round chocolate cake (I used our easy peasy chocolate cake)
200g mascarpone cheese
½ cup cream
5 tablespoons icing sugar
x2 70g chocolate mousse packets
2 cups cold milk
3 cups frozen raspberries, thawed
1 Flake bar, crushed

Method:
Trim your cake if you have any overcooked areas on the top or around the sides of your cake. Cut in half through the middle of the cake and then divide each half into eight wedges and set aside.
To make your berry sauce sauce take two cups of the thawed berries and mash them, adding two tablespoons of icing sugar to sweeten. Reserve the other cup for decorating while layering.
Make up your chocolate mousse following the packet instructions(mixing packet contents with cold milk) and set aside.
To prepare your mascarpone place it into a mixing bowl, with half the fresh cream and mix with a spoon to combine the two, you want it to be a nice spreadable consistency, adding icing sugar and cream until you have the desired taste and consistency.
To assemble your trifle place half your chocolate mousse in the bottom of your glass serving bowl, on top of your mousse place one half of your chocolate cake so it forms one even flat layer. If there gaps between pieces of cake fill them with some of the reserved whole raspberries. Spoon raspberry sauce over the cake and place more 8-10 whole raspberries around the side of the bowl. Layer the mascarpone over the raspberries and then repeat the layering process again starting with the mousse.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour so that your mousse can set before removing it from the fridge and allowing it to sit for 15 minutes before serving, scatter the crushed Flake bar over the top.

Unlike other trifles this one holds it’s shape quite well while serving. I know Christmas and trifle seem to go hand in hand but I think this would be great for any summer BBQ or even a New Year’s Eve party.