Chefs’ specials TV recipes

Nigel Slater: Eating Together

Two must-try recipes for custard lovers, from Nigel Slater’s new series, coming soon to BBC One

Dad’s Banana custard trife

EASY

SERVES 6-8 PREP 30 mins plus chilling COOK 10 mins

2 raspberry Swiss rolls, shop bought 6 tbsp sweet Sherry 135g pack blackcurrant jelly block, separated into chunks 2-3 tbsp custard powder 500ml milk 2 bananas 600ml double cream 100g faked almonds glacé cherries and candied angelica, to decorate

1 Cut the Swiss roll into 4cm-thick rounds. Arrange around the bottom of a large trife dish. Soak the Swiss roll pieces with the Sherry. 2 Put the jelly pieces into a mixing bowl and stir with 500ml hot water or as per the instructions on the pack. When the jelly has dissolved, leave to cool slightly, then pour it over the Swiss roll. When completely cold, chill for 2-3 hrs or until the jelly has set. 3 Prepare the custard powder as per the instructions on the packet with 500ml milk. Add 2 chopped bananas and leave to cool. When the custard has cooled, spoon it over the jelly and return to the fridge. Whisk the double cream to soft peaks and smother over the top of the chilled custard. 4 Toast the faked almonds in a dry frying pan until very pale golden, shaking the pan occasionally so they colour as evenly as possible. Let them cool, then scatter over the whipped cream. Slice the glacé cherries and candied angelica, and decorate the top of the trife to your liking.

Petra says: ‘One spoonful of this and I was teleported back to my youth. My mum used to make a very similar trife when my granny came on a Sunday. She would only ever use a raspberry jelly, then decorate the trife with cherries and angelica, but never any nuts. You can do the same and tailor this trife to your tastes.’

Profteroles with cheat’s custard

A LITTLE EFFORT

SERVES 6-8 PREP 35 mins COOK 30 mins

FOR THE PROFITEROLES 100g unsalted butter, chopped into small pieces 150g plain four 4 eggs FOR THE CHEAT’S CUSTARD 4 small egg yolks 4 tbsp golden caster sugar 1 vanilla pod 2 tbsp Marsala wine 300g mascarpone FOR THE TOPPING 100g dark chocolate (75% cocoa solids), broken into pieces 100g white chocolate, broken into pieces 60g pistachios, shelled crystallised rose petals and violets, to decorate

1 Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. To make the profteroles, lightly butter a large baking sheet or line with baking parchment. Pour 250ml water into a large saucepan and add the butter. Let it melt over a low heat, then bring to a simmer. As it bubbles, quickly tip in all the four and add a pinch of salt, and beat until the mixture forms a ball. Leave it to cool slightly. 2 Transfer the ball to an electric mixer and whisk in the eggs, one at a time, until the mixture is thick, smooth and shiny. Place small spoonfuls of mixture, spaced apart, on the baking sheet. Bake for about 25 mins or until puffed and golden. Remove from the baking sheet, pierce each to let the steam out, then cool on a rack. 3 For the cheat’s custard, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar and the seeds of the vanilla pod. Add the Marsala wine and mascarpone, and mix well until smooth. 4 Make small splits in each of the choux buns with a sharp knife. Using a teaspoon, fll each one with a generous amount of the custard. Arrange the stuffed buns in a tall pile on a large plate or cake stand. 5 Put the dark and white chocolate in 2 separate bowls. Melt them, one at a time, over a pan of simmering water. When the chocolate has melted, trickle it over the buns. Coarsely chop the pistachios, plus some crystallised roses and violets. Scatter them over the profteroles to decorate.

Nigel’s new series

In his new six-part series for BBC One, Nigel Slater travels around multicultural Britain, bringing together different communities to taste, make and share each other’s versions of the same dishes – from custard to dumplings.

Nigel sees how custard brings out the child in us all, from his own father’s traditional trife to home-baked Portuguese custard tarts. He also cooks a delicious Malaysian custard that’s not yellow but green – before creating these extravagant profteroles, combining a touch of everyone’s custard dishes.