For the Brownies:

1. Heat the oven to 180 C/160 C fan. Grease and line a roasting tin.

2. Place the butter, sugar, syrup and chocolate in a saucepan and heat gently until melted and lump-free, then remove from the heat.

3. Break the eggs into a jug and add the vanilla, mix lightly.

4. Add the flour and cocoa powder to a bowl with a pinch of salt, add the chocolate mix and stir, then fold through the egg mix.

5. Once combined pour in the prepared tin, then cook for 30 mins. 

6. Once cooked allow to cool completely in the tin.

For the chocolate custard:

1. Heat the milk in a pan until almost boiling, in the meantime, add the yolks, vanilla, sugar, cornflour and cocoa powder to a bowl and mix to a thick paste.

2. When the milk is hot add to the bowl slowly whisking the entire time, then transfer the mixture back into the pan and heat over a low heat whisking continuously until thickened, remove from the heat and stir through the chocolate until it is melted, leave to cool completely.

For the meringues:

1. Whip the egg whites until frothy, then add the sugar 1 tsp at a time, until stiff peaks are formed. 

2. Pipe the meringue into bone, hand and ghost shapes, if you don’t have a piping bag you can use a zip lock bag with the corner cut.

3. Cook on your ovens lowest temperate for 60 mins, then switch the oven off and open the door slightly and allow the meringues to cool completely in the oven, these can be made the day before.

To assemble:

1. The night before open the tin of cherries and drain reserving the syrup, cut the cherries in half and remove the stones, put the cherries into a bowl and add the kirsch and some of the syrup, cover and leave overnight. (leave out the kirsch if not using)

2. Blitz the bourbon biscuits in a food processor, or bash with a rolling pin inside a zip lock bag.

3. Cut the brownies into squares, put a layer in the bottom of the trifle dish.

4. Spoon over some of the cherry/kirsch liquid (if not using the kirsch just spoon over some of the cherry liquid). 

5. Then add a layer of cherries, then a layer of the chocolate custard.

6. Place the meringue bones around the outside of the trifle dish, then add a thick layer of the biscuit crumbs.

7. Repeat the layers one more time, ending up with a layer of the biscuit crumbs.

8. Decorate with more bones, ghosts and hands sticking up through the soil.