Tropical custard and jelly, almost trifle.

A few months ago when I was floored by the scent of passionfruit the cubic megatonne I bought made me think of tart jelly. They sat in wrinkling in the fruit bowl mocking me every time I passed. So jelly it was.

Actually jelly it always is these days. I seem to have an all out jelly obsession, in fact I just made a delicious wibbly wobbly blood orange jelly shot through with sweet Da Lat strawberries. See, before I left Australia I stocked up on leaf gelatine and had been rationing it out, trying to make it last. This week though I realised that they it is for sale in our local corner shop. So I’ll be making jelly for a while yet.

But back to my tropical almost trifle. Sharp, tangy, suitably solid passionfruit jelly with lightly thickened creme anglaise flavoured with dark rum and vanilla. Top with fresh fruit. . You won’t miss the soggy sherry soaked sponge cake, and all that whipped cream is really just a flavour distraction. Try it this way instead, or with jelly studded with fresh raspberries and lemon zested custard, or with lime jelly and toasted shredded coconut. Oh, the possibilities.

Eat it in the sun. Summer in a glass.

Almost Trifle
Passionfruit Jelly recipe from Gourmet Traveller

375 ml (1½ cups) passionfruit juice
150 ml freshly squeezed orange juice
200 gm white sugar
3½ gelatine leaves (titanium strength), softened in cold water

Creme Anglaise
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped and pod reserved
300 ml pouring cream
150 ml milk
3 egg yolks
75 gm caster sugar
2 Tablespoons rum
2 gelatine leaves.

Mango, strawberry and passionfruit to serve.

Combine juices, sugar and 1 cup water in a saucepan. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves, then pass through a muslin-lined sieve. Warm ½ cup juice mixture in a saucepan over medium heat, squeeze excess water from gelatine, add to pan and stir until gelatine dissolves, then add remaining juice mixture. Cool slightly and pour into six glasses and refrigerate for 4 hours or until set.

For Anglaise:
Place gelatine leaves in a clean bowl and cover with cold water, set aside to allow to soften.

Combine vanilla pod and seeds, cream and milk in a heavy-based saucepan and bring just to the boil over medium heat.
Meanwhile, combine egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and whisk until very thick and pale.
Pour hot cream mixture over egg mixture, whisking continuously to combine. A tip here is to form a circle slightly larger than the base of your bowl with a twirled up tea towel. Place bowl on the tea towel, it should be held snug now leaving you two hands to whisk and pour at the same time (illustrated above).

Transfer mixture to a clean pan and cook, stirring continuously, over low-med-ium heat until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Stir through softened gelatine and strain into a bowl placed over ice. Stir rum through and cool completely.

When cooled gently spoon anglaise over jelly. Refrigerate for a few hours to allow anglaise to set lightly. Top with fruit and serve.