Christmas Cake Trifle

I THINK the best way to use up leftover Christmas cake (if there's any left over!) is to make a trifle with it. The one I made yesterday for a pot-luck lunch comprised mainly leftovers - three-quarters of a plum cake loaf, five slices of canned pineapple and the last orange from the fruit bowl.

With a wee bit of imagination, you can make this trifle with just about anything you have at hand. Only ensure that the flavours and textures sort of blend or complement each other. After the calorie overload of the past few weeks this trifle, far from being sinfully rich, was just right to tie up a light lunch at a friend's place. Or so I imagined.

All that needed to be made was a rum sauce to pour over and an apricot jelly to top it with, besides a sprinkling of some toasted and slivered almonds for a bit of nutty crunch. While
the usual custard sauce is rich and heavy with egg yolks and is patiently stirred over a double-boiler to avoid curdling, the one I made was basically a light white sauce, with sugar for sweetening and a few tablespoons of dark rum for flavour. Just light and nice.

What you need
for the rum sauce:

55 gms butter
55 gms flour
55 gms sugar
5 tablespoons dark rum
550 ml milk
A teeny weeny pinch of salt

Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Add the flour and stir around a bit with a wire whisk. Add the milk in a slow stream, and continue stirring with the whisk, because you want to get a smooth sauce, without lumps. Add the salt, sugar and the rum and continue cooking, stirring all the time till it comes to a slow boil. Turn off heat. Cover and set aside to cool before using.

To assemble the trifle:

Crumble the cake and press it lightly and evenly into the base of a glass dish. Sprinkle a little of the pineapple syrup from the can to moisten. Spread a layer of the pineapple bits and chopped orange segments. I would have loved to use a couple of oranges, but it was too much work to go out and get some...so I spooned a little Cointreau over the fruit layer to enhance the orange flavour.

Now pour the cooled rum sauce evenly over the fruit layer. Refrigerate for a couple of hours. Just before serving, spread a layer of apricot jelly (made in advance as per instructions on the packet). Lastly, sprinkle some toasted, slivered almonds and a little green tutti-frutti for colour contrast. Serves 6-8.

PS: I thought a few drops of liquor/liqueur would not do any harm, but did I hear someone say "My knees are feeling a bit wobbly"?