Mascarpone Raspberry Trifle Terrine

With the glut of raspberry recipes appearing on blogs at the moment I thought now was as good a time as any for me to throw my two bob's worth in too.  This is actually a recipe I made for dessert on Christmas Day ... gasp ... yes I said Christmas!  The fact that I'm only sharing it now as totally down to my poor form previously, I know.  But at least by sharing this with you in July rather than December means that raspberries are fresh and in plentiful supply and you should be able to source some of the lovely little red gems that won't requir you to sell a kidney or a child in order to produce this show stopping dessert - which is divine by the way ... and potentially well worth the lose of a kidney or a child?

Mascarpone Raspberry Trifle Terrine
2 gelatine sheets
300g raspberries, fresh or frozen and defrosted
600ml double cream, at room temp
250g tub mascarpone, at room temp
1/2 vanilla pod, seeds reserved
75g icing sugar, sieved
150ml dry sherry (dry sherry is not an item we tend to stock in our booze cupboard so I used framboise)
12 sponge fingers or lady fingers
Toasted flaked almonds, to decorate
Edible silver balls, to decorate

Rinse a loaf tin approx 21cm long x 8cm wide x 7cm high with cold water and then line with baking parchment, leaving a little overhang.  Soak the gelatine in cold water for 5 mins.

Meanwhile, mash 125g raspberries then push them through a sieve using the back of a spoon to make a purée.  Discard the seeds.

Whisk 450ml cream until almost stiff peaks.  Whisk the mascarpone with the vanilla and sugar.  Fold the mascarpone into the cream until smooth.

Drain the gelatine and dissolve it in 2 tbsp of slightly cooled boiling water.  Stir 2 tsp of the gelatine mixture into the purée, then stir the remaining gelatine into the cream.

Spoon some cream into the tin to make a layer of about 1/2cm thick.  Drizzle with a third of the purée.  Dip 2 sponge fingers into the sherry (or whatever you choose to use) and put them in the tin against one side, end to end.  Repeat with 2 more fingers on the opposite side of the tin, and finish with 2 more fingers down the centre.

Spoon more cream over the fingers and between the gaps.  Push half the remaining raspberries into the cream in lines between the fingers.  Drizzle with purée and repeat with the remaining fingers, cream, raspberries and purée.  Fold over the baking paper and chill for 4 hours.

To serve, whip the remaining cream to soft peaks.  Turn the terrine out upside down onto a platter.  top with cream and scatter with almonds and silver balls.

Serves 8-10
Olive, Dec 11