Sticky Toffee Trifle

Separate the yolk of 8 eggs from the white. We did this by cracking the egg and gently passing the yolk from one half of the shell to the other over a bowl allowing the white to run out.You can make meringues from these egg whites if you're feeling really keen! Put these to one side.

In a large pot add 350g sugar (leaving the other 50g to one side for now) and 125ml of water.

Heat slowly over a medium heat without stirring. You’ll want to stir, we wanted to stir, but try not to give in to temptation - at best swirl once or twice! We use a gas hob and find this a lot hotter than electric but we started in the middle of the dial if that helps.

The mix will start to bubble and even solidify at the edges but don’t panic this will all even out later.

Watch the mix closely, you’re looking for it to turn a light brown/amber colour.

While this is happening warm the milk, we used the microwave for ease. Don’t boil it, just gently warm it.

Once the mix changes colour slowly add the warmed milk whisking the mix as you do.

**** WARNING**** The mix is very hot so the milk will make it foam up in a very angry manner! Be very careful not to burn yourself and keep adding the milk. This is why you need the large pot, ours wasn’t big enough and it took us a long time to clean our stovetop!

Once all the milk has been added and the mix is a nice light caramel colour leave it on a very low heat or just set to one side.

Take the mixing bowl and mix the remaining 50g sugar and 85g cornflour.

Add the yolks to the sugar and cornflour and whisk.

While you whisk the mixture add a spoonful or two of the warm milk. Once this is well mixed add it all to the original pan.

Heat the mix over a low heat, whisking all of the time until the mixture slowly thickens and turns into a smooth custard. This can take 10-12mins so prepare your arms.

*** Top Tip**** Be careful not to let the custard boil as this can mean it's more likely to curdle and look like there’s scrambled egg in it. If curdling starts, remove the mix from the heat straight away and mix vigorously. Once smooth return to a very low heat and continue to stir.

When you’re happy with the custard pour it into the medium bowl. This can then be set to one side to cool.

Once the custard has cooled enough to touch, cover with clingfilm making sure the film touches the surface to avoid a skin forming, Many people like a skin on their custard but not really in trifle! Then place in the fridge for 4-6 hours.

Using a large pot on the stove, melt the butter and the sugar until the sugar is fully dissolved.

Add the tins of condensed milk and stir continuously until it turns a darker colour and thickens. This should take around 15 minutes.

Set aside to cool while you make the cake.

Line the tin with baking paper or grease with butter.

Turn the oven to 180 degrees Celsius/350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Put the chopped dates in a bowl and add the boiling water to just cover them. Add in the teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda, stir through and set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar together.

Add the eggs and beat them in one by one.

Add the vanilla essence.

Fold in the dates and the flour.

Put half of the mixture in the bottom of the lined/greased traybake tin.

Spread over half of the caramel. You can do this by making thick lines criss-crossing the caramel across the cake.

Pour over the other half of the cake mixture.

Drizzle about half of the remaining caramel sauce over the cake and use a fork/knife to swirl it around on top of the cake. You don’t need to make a pattern it can be as messy as you like.

Bake for 30 minutes in the oven. Test with a toothpick or knife in the middle to ensure it’s cooked through.

Take out the oven and allow to cool. The tray back must be cooled so it will need to be left several hours after it’s finished baking.

Keep the remaining caramel sauce to one side until you begin building the trifle.

Once your first two components are ready and cooled start working on the cream.

Place the cream into a large mixing bowl and, with your electric beater, whip the cream until it forms soft peaks. You can then put this to one side.

Take the cooled traybake, gently place it on a chopping board and cut it in half. We used one half of the traybake per layer. The size of these layers will of course depend on your trifle dish. Ours is 22 x 22 x 22 cm.

Cut each half of the bake into squares of around 6cm x 6cm.

Take half of the squares (half the bake) and begin to place them in the bottom of your trifle dish. We started with a square in the middle then built out from there.

Pack the sponge in as tightly as possible to keep the layer solid once the custard is added. This will mean breaking up some of your squares to make them fit.

We then added the leftover caramel sauce to the small gaps to both fill the holes but also add a little extra taste. This may need a little reheating if it's become to thick to drizzle in. Think of it as sweet cement!

Once the bottom layer is nicely packed in, take your custard, again we used half the custard per layer, and spoon it onto the centre of the sponge. Keep spooning it on to form an even layer. The thickness of this will depend on your dish. Our layers were 2-3cm thick. When you finish this the custard should cover the whole sponge layer and be as even as possible.

Take the other half of the traybake and begin the second sponge layer repeating the process as before. Although this does need to be packed tightly like the first layer, place each square on to the custard as gently as possible. If you press too hard the layers won't be defined, this isn’t the end of the world from a taste point of view but it will make it look like a big bowl of custard!

Once you’re happy with the second sponge layer, begin the second custard layer, exactly the same as before adding each spoonful gently and evenly.

Take your whipped cream and two spoons, use one spoon to scoop the cream up and the other to scrape it from the spoon on to the trifle.

Begin in the middle and be very gentle in placing the cream on top to allow the cream to form its own layer and not blend in with the custard.

Use your spoons to spread the cream evenly across the whole layer, covering the custard completely.

Finally, scatter a few chopped dates on to the top of the cream as a deliciously chewy garnish.