Honey and apricot trifle with walnut & lavender recipe

Honey and apricot trifle with walnut and lavender

Dessert Weekend project

4 people

I showed my ignorance big-time when suggesting on screen that pure honey was anything else than pure honey. Anyway, I think I made up for it with this impressive take on an immortal British classic.
Although only a small amount of fresh lavender is called for, it will make all the difference to the end result so don’t be tempted to lose lavender. Once you’ve used a couple of flowers, leave the remaining bunch sitting in a jar on your kitchen counter. It will look and smell fantastically French.

Ingredients

8	apricots (390g gross), stoned and quartered (355g net)
2	tbsp lemon juice
1½ tbsp	good quality runny honey, plus an extra 1 tsp for drizzling
200g	Madeira cake (shop-bought is fine), broken up into 4cm chunks
4 tbsp	amaretto liqueur
100g	walnuts, roughly chopped
¾ tsp	picked lavender petals
100g	ricotta
150g	crème fraiche
50g	mascarpone
20g	icing sugar

Method

Place the apricots in a small saucepan with the lemon juice, 2
tablespoons of water and 1 tablespoon of honey. Place on a medium heat
and cook for about 20 minutes, stirring from time to time, until the
apricots have broken down to a runny compote. You might need to add a
little bit more water if the apricots start sticking to the pan. Remove
from the heat and set aside to cool.
Place the cake in a bowl, pour over the liqueur and use your hands to gently toss the cake so that all the liquid is absorbed.
Put the walnuts in a bowl with the remaining half a tablespoon of honey and half of the lavender petals. Stir and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the ricotta, crème fraiche, mascarpone and icing sugar. Once well combined, set aside.
Place some of the sponge at the bottom of 4 individual glass bowls.
Spoon some cream on top, followed by some of the compote and then the
nuts. Repeat this layering process once more for each portion, drizzle
over the remaining honey and sprinkle with the remaining lavender
petals.