Trifle

SEE A SIMPLE RECIPE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE

This is a very simple and elegant dessert.  You can make a large trifle that will serve everyone, or individual dessert cup trifles.

A TRIFLE is a general category of recipe, kind of like “a casserole” – “a burrito” – or “a beverage.”

It simply describes a layered desert, usually with a cake layer, a pudding layer, a fruit layer and a few other layers thrown in for good measure.

I’ve included photos from other websites so that you can get an idea of what a trifle is, and create your own.  You will see that the key is to maintain distinct layers.  If you browse all of these GOOGLE IMAGES you will see that some trifles are not clearly labeled at all, which makes it not really a trifle.

CLICK ON AN IMAGE FOR AN ENLARGEMENT

A simple recipe that you can follow, if you want a no-fail first attempt.

SIMPLE TRIFLE

1. First, decide if you want one large dramatic trifle to share, or individual trifles.  You definitely want it to be clear glass though.  Be very careful to not fill any layer too deeply, or you will run out of space.
2. SPONGE LAYER:  Traditionally you use Lady Fingers in a trifle, but you can buy angel food cake or use the recipe below and it will be just as tasty.  You can also simply use Vanilla Wafers.  Use a knife and cut prepared angel food cake into 1/2 to 1 inch slices.
3. If you want to try to make your own sponge layer, here is a recipe for LADY FINGERS.
4. If you don’t have a biscuit cutter, a single biscuit cutter is a good addition to your arsenal.  Cut circles from the angel food cake.  If they are too big for your container, cut them into geometric shapes and put them against the wall of your glass.
5. PUDDING LAYER:  Spoon pudding into the bottom of your glass to hold your sponge in place.  Pudding can be from scratch or even a box instant pudding.  Both will work well.
6. COOKIE LAYER:  You can use crushed Oreo’s or Graham Crackers.  You can even use granola.  The thing is that you want something with crumbly pieces to create a completely different texture.
7. FRUIT LAYER:  For this, you want a soft fruit like peaches, strawberries, kiwi, and so forth.  The fruit should be in bite-sized pieces.
8. WHIPPED CREAM LAYER:  You really don’t want to use spray canned whipped cream, as it breaks down too quickly.  Cool Whip is not a bad choice, but making your own whipped cream is actually pretty easy.  CLICK HERE for a simple three-ingredient whipped cream.
9. OPTIONAL:  CREAM CHEESE LAYER:  Alternately, you can use Cream Cheese, Yogurt, cooked (cooled) Vanilla Pudding, and powdered sugar.
10. FRESH FRUIT:  Top the whipped cream with something like blueberries, strawberries, cherries, etc.  Something small and colorful.
11. GARNISH:  You can garnish with more crushed cookies, or even chopped nuts if you want.  You can also place a single mint leaf on the very top for an elegant presentation.

STEP BY STEP – OVERVIEW

1. For a large trifle, put a layer of angel food cake in the bottom
2. Add a layer of your white mixture cream cheese or whipped cream.
3. Stack strawberries against the side so they can be seen
4. Add strawberry pieces and blueberries
5. Repeat with layers of cake, cream mixture, more fruit
6. Finish with a layer of cake, cream mixture, and decoratively place fruits

Chef’s Notes

DO NOT USE ANYTHING BELOW THIS LINE IN MY COOKBOOK.

These notes are gleaned from PBS The Great British Baking Show

• A Trifle should have well-defined layers
• Trifles are a West Wales staple – placed on tables several times each week
• Trifles traditionally use lady fingers for the cake layers
• Another option is Vanilla Wafers
• Use a shallow disk to serve many and to all all flavors in a single serving
• Biscuits need to absorb the liquid without disintegrating
• Many of the chefs used lemon meringue or lemon curd – The custard should be thick
• Recipe 1: layers of biscuit/cake, strawberry, whipped cream and blueberry
• Recipe 2: Recipe featured a praline circle on the top
• Recipe 3: bananas, strawberries, mangos with Lemon Macaroons on top
• Recipe 4: Ginger cake with fruit and creme anglaise
• Recipe 5: Spray the layers with cointreau
• Recipe 6: Peach, almond and ginger – with browned butter
• Recipe 7: Cake layer was a lemon Swiss roll
• Recipe 8: Amaretti Bisquits on top
• Recipe 9: Chef used a jelly layer

If you are interested, you can MAKE YOUR OWN LADY FINGERS rather than using pound cake

Recipe from Wall Street Journal

Dec 20, 2016 – CLICK ON IMAGES TO ENLARGE

What they are calling their Christmas Pudding was defined in a previous publication. You can use slices of Angel Food Cake, Vanilla Wafers, or more traditionally Lady Fingers. This goes over GREAT at parties. Make sure you assemble it into a clear glass bowl or the WOW factor is lost.