Sometimes a recipe fails. What to do? My luscious coffee cake, laden with garden raspberries, rosy rhubarb and toasted hazelnuts nestled too snugly into the baking pan and came out in fits and starts. Broken. But essentially excellent. Too good to waste. That was never an option. So, I got myself some fresh berries, whipped up some heavy cream, and basically assembled a deep dish extravaganza which we scooped up hungrily with spoons.

I had it in my mind that I could also incorporate a tiramisu concept into this creamy creation. I took my mangled cake and cut it into bite sized morsels. I tossed these morsels with some strong, sweetened coffee before laying them in layers in my pretty bowl, aiming for an almost pudding-like softness to the dessert. Trifle is usually spiked with liquor and tiramisu is coffee-laden, so it was not too bizarre to combine the two techniques. The result, moist, flavourful cakey layers sandwiching some lovely thick cream and fresh strawberries. A perfect and decadent finale to a dinner with friends. An overnight rest in the fridge melded the flavours so the dessert was just as great the next day. It didn't last much beyond that.

Take a baking mistake and turn it into something else. There is no recipe to give you. Broken cake plus cream and fruit equals a trifle. Use a nice sherry on a sponge cake or sweetened espresso on a chocolate cake for some oozy moistness. Use real whipping cream that you whip yourself and sweeten it gently with icing sugar just before it is at its billowy best. Annoint it with some pure vanilla essence. Some nice combinations could include mandarin oranges with orange zested cream and a vanilla sponge cake, or raspberries with a chocolate cake and mocha cream. Cherries and kirsch with cream and white cake would be elegant and sublime. Use what you have. Build a dreamy, creamy, layered dessert in a glass bowl for all to see what lies inside. Chill and scoop. Heavenly.

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