As far as we’re concerned, trifle shouldn’t be reserved for Christmas! Not when it makes such a lovely summer dessert. We added some milk tart pizazz to give it a local twist.
SERVES 4

Ingredients
1½ tbsp flour
1 tbsp cornflour
2 eggs, separated
2½ cups milk
½ cup caster sugar
1 tbsp butter
1 cinnamon stick, plus extra to garnish
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup sugar
3 cardamom pods, roasted and split
1½ cups fruit-cake mix
1 sponge cake, sliced
Ground cinnamon, to garnish

Method
1. Whisk the flour, cornflour and egg yolks together in a large bowl.
2. Place the milk, caster sugar, butter, cinnamon stick and salt in a pot over medium heat and bring to the boil.
3. Remove the cinnamon stick and pour into the flour-egg-yolk mixture, whisking continuously. Return to the pot and cook over medium heat, whisking until it thickens.
4. Transfer the resulting custard to a clean bowl, lay cling film directly on to the surface of the custard and cool.
5. Place sugar and one cup of water in a small pot over medium heat. Once the sugar has dissolved, continue to simmer until it is a glossy syrup. Add the cardamom pods and fruit-cake mix and simmer for 5 minutes. Strain, reserving both the syrup and the fruit. Remove the cardamom pods.
6. Dip each slice of sponge cake into the syrup, then arrange a single layer in a large glass dish.
7. Top with a few spoons of fruit, then pour over a thick layer of the custard. Repeat until all the cake and fruit has been used. End with a layer of custard.
8. Dust with cinnamon and garnish with a cinnamon stick. Leave to stand for 30 minutes before serving.