preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and line a 20x26cm/8x10½in brownie tin with parchment.
Put the butter and white chocolate in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water and leave to melt
stirring from time to time. When smooth and melted
leave to cool slightly.
Put the sugar
eggs and vanilla in a large bowl and use an electric whisk or a mixer to whisk them together for several minutes until pale and moussey and increased in volume. Slowly pour the melted chocolate mixture onto the eggs and fold in gently.
or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out almost clean. Leave to cool in the tin.
For the chocolate custard
put the cream and milk in a pan and heat until just about to boil. Take off the heat. Whisk the egg yolks
sugar and flour together. Pour the hot milk and cream onto the eggs and whisk until smooth. Return this mixture to the pan
and add the chopped chocolate.
On a low heat and stirring constantly
cook until all the chocolate has melted and the custard thickens. Remove from the heat
strain into a jug and cover the surface of the custard with cling film (this prevents a skin from forming). Leave to cool completely.
To assemble the trifle
use around one-third of the blondies
cut into 2-3cm/¾-1¼in cubes
to line the base of a large trifle bowl (you won’t need the remaining blondies for this recipe). Trickle over the Kirsch
so that it soaks into the blondies. Scatter over the drained cherries
then spread over the cherry jam.
Spoon the cooled chocolate custard over the cherries then put in the fridge for several hours until the custard is set.
To finish the trifle
whip the mascarpone with the cream in a bowl until the mixture holds soft peaks when the whisk is removed from the bowl. Swirl or pipe this over the chocolate custard. Finish with grated chocolate.
