Trifle - Northern European Recipe

Trifle

🌍 Northern European, British Difficulty: ●●○○○

🍳 Equipment: Glass dish, whisk

Mrs. Beeton's classic trifle — layers of jam-sandwiched sponge cakes, macaroons, and ratafias soaked in sherry, blanketed in cold custard and crowned with whipped cream, cherries, and angelica. The grandest of English puddings.

Ingredients

• 4 sponge cakes
• 6 macaroons
• 12 ratafias
• 2 ozs of almonds, blanched and shredded
• Grated rind of ½ a lemon
• ½ pint of custard (see No. 2104)
• ½ pint of cream
• 2 whites of eggs
• Castor sugar, to taste
• Raspberry or strawberry jam
• ¼ pint of sherry
• Glacé cherries
• Angelica

Method

1. Make custard — Prepare the custard in advance and let it become quite cold.
2. Prepare sponge — Cut the sponge cakes into rather thick slices. Spread half of them with jam and cover with the remaining slices.
3. Layer base — Arrange the jam sandwiches alternately with the macaroons and ratafias in a glass dish.
4. Soak — Pour over the sherry, adding a little more if necessary to soak them thoroughly. Sprinkle on the lemon rind and add the shredded almonds.
5. Add custard — Pour the cold custard over the soaked cakes and almonds to cover completely.
6. Whip cream — Mix the cream and egg whites together, whip stiffly, and sweeten to taste with castor sugar.
7. Top — Pile the whipped cream lightly on top of the custard. Garnish with halved glacé cherries and strips of angelica.
8. Serve — Serve chilled, scooping through all the layers.

Tags: sponge cake, macaroons, sherry, custard, cream, jam · Source: Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management (1861)