Chocolate Apricot Trifle Recipe

This is my take on a Chocolate Apricot Trifle recipe from The Dairy Book Of Home Cookery published in 1978!

As a busy working mum I am always on the lookout for easy to make meals. This particular recipe comes from one of my first ever cookery books and it has remained as one of my “go to” cookery bibles for all of my adult life. It is in shreds now as the back spine has disintegrated through age and use. As a consequence many of the pages have become detached. I learned today that you can buy “used” versions from various internet shops and that a 50 year anniversary edition is available. See links at the bottom of this blog.

I was inspired to make it this weekend after seeing an image of a trifle in a Kilner jar in a Country Living magazine which was published several summers ago.

If you choose to add orange squash to the apricot syrup rather than brandy, this recipe is suitable for all age groups. I omitted one standard egg white which is supposed to be added to the cream. (There is an egg allergy in our family so important not to serve raw egg.)

I bought a chocolate Swiss roll which was filled with chocolate butter cream icing rather than doubling up on fresh cream. The can of apricots was 410g and I used 2-3 squares of Green & Blacks 70% dark chocolate for the decoration.

This recipe makes 4-6 portions and I used two medium size Kilner jars to serve.

Ingredients

1 cream-filled chocolate Swiss roll
1 medium-sized can of apricot halves
2 tablespoons orange squash or brandy
150ml fresh double cream
1 tablespoon milk
2 level tablespoons sifted icing sugar
50g grated plain chocolate for decoration

Method

Cut Swiss roll into 10 slices
Arrange over base of shallow serving dish (or two Kilner jars in this instance) overlapping if necessary
Moisten with 4 tablespoons syrup from the apricots mixed with orange squash or brandy
Arrange apricots on top
Whip cream and milk together until thick
Stir in sugar
Pile over apricots and chill
Just before serving, sprinkle with grated chocolate

Links

Used copies of this book are available on several websites including Amazon The Dairy Book of Home Cookery 1978

There is a special edition celebrating 50 years of The Dairy Book of Home Cookery

Click here for more tried and tested recipes

📸 Carolyn Hayter