Christmas trifle

Method

1. To make the custard, whisk the sugar, egg yolks and cornflour together in a bowl. Heat the milk and cream in a pan until almost boiling. Pour the mixture over the eggs and sugar, whisking constantly. Pour back into the pan and place over a gentle heat. Stir with a wooden spoon until thickened. Take off the heat, pass through a sieve, then stir through the advocaat and nutmeg. Cover the surface with cling film (to prevent a skin forming) and allow to cool, then refrigerate overnight to thicken further.
2. To poach the pears, put the sugar, juices and cinnamon in a large pan over a medium heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Lower in the pear halves. Bring to a simmer, then cook for 20 minutes, turning occasionally, until tender. Carefully remove from the pan and set aside to cool completely, before slicing each in half again and removing the core and stem.
3. Chop the ginger loaf cake into thick slices, douse with the rum, then use to line the base of a 2 litre trifle bowl, pressing the ginger cake up against the sides. Top with the pear quarters, pressing them up the sides too, and scatter with the chopped stem ginger.
4. Whip the cream together with the icing sugar until it just holds its shape. Top the pears with a layer of the custard, followed by the cream, spooning it over in pretty peaks. Decorate with gold lustre dust (see tip) before serving.