English Trifle Recipe

....made the good old fashioned way!

This traditional English trifle recipe makes an excellent gourmet dessert for a dinner party or family celebration. In the UK it is often served at Christmas as a lighter alternative to the very rich, traditional Christmas Pudding.

Although an English trifle recipe traditionally uses sherry in its base, this can be omitted if you wish and substituted with fruit juice instead.

Kept refrigerated, it can be made up to 24 hours in advance as long as you only decorate with the whipped cream shortly before serving.

This is the perfect dessert for any special occasion.

Gourmet food........the EASY way!

Sherry Trifle

INGREDIENTS
SERVES 6 to 8

For The Base
4 trifle sponge cakes
4 almond macaroon biscuits
20 ratafia biscuits
raspberry jam
4 tablespoons sweet sherry
4 tablespoons brandy
8oz (225g) fresh or frozen raspberries (defrosted)
4 slices fresh pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into small pieces

For The Custard
3 egg yolks
1/2 pints (275 ml) heavy (double) cream
1 vanilla pod, split lengthways
1 oz (25g) caster sugar
1 level teaspoon cornflour

For The Topping
3/4 pint (350ml) whipping cream
2oz (50g) flaked almonds, lightly toasted
crystallized ginger
glac� cherries
crystallized angelica peel

METHOD

Cut the sponge cakes in half and spread raspberry jam over one side, Re-sandwich them and break into rough pieces.
Break the macaroon biscuits into rough pieces and arrange with the sponge pieces and ratafias in a glass serving bowl.
Mix together the sherry and brandy and drizzle over the sponge and biscuit base. Turn over lightly with a fork to distribute everything.
Pile the raspberries and fresh pineapple over the top of the sponge base.
To prepare the custard, scrape the vanilla seeds out of the pod into the double cream, and add the vanilla pod too. Heat the cream in a saucepan over a low heat. Do not let it boil. Remove the vanilla pod.
Meanwhile in a basin, cream together the egg yolks, caster sugar and cornflour. Now gradually whisk in the hot cream.
Return the custard to the saucepan and over a very low heat, continue to stir until the sauce thickens sufficiently to coat the back of a spoon. Do not let it boil.
Remove from the heat and pour the custard over the sponge and fruit base. Shake the bowl a little to settle the ingredients.
Cover with cling wrap and allow to cool. Once completely cold, refrigerate the trifle.

The beauty of this English trifle recipe is that all of the above can be done up to 24 hours in advance. Then an hour or two before eating, simply decorate......

Whisk the whipping cream until just peaking and pile over the top of the trifle.
Now have some fun decorating with the toasted almonds and crystallized fruits!

I hope that you enjoy my version of a traditional, English trifle recipe. But the great thing about a trifle is that everyone has their own version. So feel free to experiment. Just use my recipe as guide. Be adventurous!

A few variations may include:

Use ALL sponge and NO biscuits.
Use chocolate sponge and chocolate custard.
Use a different alcohol - almost any liqueur is good.
Substitute the alcohol for fruit juice.
Use a different fruit/s.
If time is tight, use a ready made (good quality) custard.
Decorate with chocolate shavings, mini chocolate eggs, sugar frosted rose petals, crystallized, fresh or glaceé fruit, gold chocolate dragees.....or whatever takes your fancy!

ENJOY!

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