Stress-Free Strawberries and Cream Trifle

Serve 8-10

20g caster sugar

20g gelatine sheets, softened

500ml strawberry essence 200m Bulla vanilla cream, semi-whipped 

12 vanilla macarons (I used Shangri-La macarons) 

1 punnet strawberries, washed, cut in quarters 

¼ punnet baby mint or 1 handful mint, torn 

Strawberry Essence

1kg strawberries

200g caster sugar

To make strawberry essence, place strawberries into a bowl. Mix in caster sugar.

Cover bowl in cling film and place over a medium-sized pot of boiling water, on medium heat.

Cook for 2 hours. Take  off the heat and allow to  sit overnight.

Strain the juice through a fine sieve (you can use the leftover strawberries to make jam which could be used to replace the jam in the Baked Eggnog and Raspberry Ripple Cheesecake click here for recipe).

To make the trifle, warm 250ml of water with caster sugar until sugar dissolves, add softened gelatine sheets, then strawberry essence.

Mix together and pour into a trifle bowl. Allow to set for at least 3 hours.

To serve, scatter strawberries on the set jelly, then place macarons on top. Spoon over vanilla cream and sprinkle with mint.