Old English Trifle

Ain’t it a beauty? Don’t you just hate to wanna stick that serving spoon into it 😉  This is probably the best loved of English cold puddings , the trifle has a long and distinguished history, related to the Tipsy Cake.

I use home baked Jam Swiss Roll but you can also use Ladyfinger Sponge/Italian Sponge Fingers

…slice Jam Swiss Roll into 1cm slices and line base and sides of a large glass serving bowl …I love to use a clear, see through glass bowl to show off the lovely spirals of the sponge … looks like a Charlotte Pudding/Cake in the making ya 😉

Sprinkle about ¼ cup of sherry allover the Jam Swiss Roll  … in the background, you can see bowl of strawberry jelly that has just begun to set …

….pour partly set jelly over sponge tools, refrigerate until jelly is set …

Meanwhile, make your custard … you can make from scratch or like me, make it by blending custard powder and sugar with a little of the milk in a pan ….

…stir in remaining milk ….

…stir over heat until custard boils … keep stiring …

…stir until custard thickens …remove from heat, stir in essence …

…cover with cling film and leave aside to cool

Now, start to assemble the layers of your trifle … layer peaches over jelly …

…seen here, in between the peach layers, I added mixed fruits and also mandarin oranges as well because I’m making a super-size glass bowl of it …

…now, pour in the custard …

…top with whipped cream, refrigerate and then just before serving up, decorate with grated chocolate or chocolate rice and fresh fruits/strawberries

RECIPE

Ingredients:

100g packet strawberry jelly crystals

300g jam sponge roll

¼ cup sherry

425g can sliced peaches, drained

300ml carton thickened cream, whipped

for the Custard :

2 Tbsp custard powder

2 Tbsp castor sugar

2 cups milk

1 tsp vanilla essence

Methods:

• Make jelly according to directions on packet, refrigerate until jelly is just beginning to set
• Cut sponge roll into 1cm slices, place over base and around side of large glass serving bowl, sprinkle with sherry
• Pour partly set jelly over sponge roll, refrigerate until jelly is set
• Meanwhile, make the custard by blending custard powder and sugar with a little of the milk in a pan then stir in remaining milk … stir over heat until custard boils and thickens … remove from heat, stir in essence then cover with cling film … set aside for it to cool
• Place peaches over jelly (+ any other fruits you may be adding on), spread evenly with custard and top with whipped cream …refrigerate
• Just before serving up, decorate by grating some chocolate allover the cream top and  with fresh fruits, e.g. strawberries, if desired