Those readers of Saucy Dressings who have read the About Me page will be familiar with a particularly deep-seated approach:

“My morals, when it comes to cheating at cooking, are also somewhat loose. I’m not above instant mash, tinned confit, Angel Delight, jars of rhubarb conserve….. stock cubes, Marmite….. just as long as it tastes sublime. Life Is, after all, Too Short.”

This blackberry trifle recipe falls, probably, into the ‘cheating’ category in the sense that it is just too simple and easy to be true. But it is true…. and if you use blackberries which you happen to have just picked yourself….either in a happy solo forage, or in quiet companionship… well, it’s a dish which is just sublime.

You can absolutely cap the sheer, glorious cheatiness of it by, instead of whipping double cream, you simply use The Collective’s luscious lemon yoghurt, so named by someone actually telling the truth rather than a marketing executive.

Recipe for blackberry trifle with boozy orange-soaked cake

Serves 8

Ingredients

• 2 x 225g/8 oz Lyons’ Golden syrup sponges
• 80 ml/⅓ cup Grand Marnier (or other orange liqueur)
• juice and zest of an orange
• 240 ml/1 cup double cream – or, better, The Collective luscious lemon yoghurt
• 300g/11 oz blackberries

Method

1. Cut the sponge into slices and arrange around a shallow dish.
2. Drizzle over the Grand Marnier – spreading it over the cake slices as evenly as possible.
3. Do the same with the orange juice.
4. Whip the cream, if that’s what you’re using, and spoon over…or just spoon over the Luscious Lemon Yoghurt.
5. Arrange the blackberries over the cream.
6. Sprinkle the orange zest over the whole as artistically as you can.
7. Serve with a flourish!