ENGLISH TRIFLE

Often when we are in the car, the tipster and I listen to Chuck Berry’s Great 28.  When "Maybelline” is playing, I absolutely love the instrumental break in the middle where Willie Dixon pumps that pre-Fender acoustic double-bass.  I turn the volume up for that exciting rhythmic sound.  Another great track on that CD is “Roll over Beethoven”.  Since it contains the lyric: “Move on up just a trifle further”, my BW always comments that I turn the volume up just a trifle when Willie Dixon plays bass in the middle of “Maybelline”.

Since trifle is not commonly used, we always find it humorous when it is sung in the rhythm and blues classic.

My spouse reminded me last time that her mom, who was a war bride from Great Britain, made a trifle dessert at home on special occasions.  I vaguely remembered it as a layered dessert, but had never tried one.

 Trifle goes back to the sixteenth century, where it evolved from an earlier, similar dessert known as a foole.  In the seventeenth century, milk was added to sweet cream custard and was poured over bread infused with alcohol. 

A variation to the trifle is the Creole trifle, more commonly known as Russian cake.  I walked into a fancy bakery just outside of New Orleans years ago, looking to get a single serving bakery treat.  They had all these fancy cakes, but the proprietor showed me a gaily coloured slice of “Russian cake”.  It was a fruit -syrup soaked slice of cake and it was moist and sweet.  I later found out it was an ingenious way to recycle old cake. They take pieces of leftover cake and mould them with the syrup and pack firmly.

This is how some “puddings” originated - as a means to use up stale cake.  But just as French toast requires stale or dry bread, a trifle needs a dry cake, for absorption.  The English trifle is very similar to an Italian dessert called Zuppa Inglese and a  Spanish one called Bizcocho Borracho.  In Austria they call it Punschtorte.

The word "trifle" comes from the old French term meaning something whimsical.  A proper English trifle is made with real egg custard poured over sponge cake soaked in fruit and sherry and topped with whipped cream. 

Here is a recipe I adapted from: http://britishfood.about.com/od/dessert/r/traditionaltrifle.htm

ENGLISH TRIFLE                                 serves 12
Ingredients:

2- 8 inch sponge cakes

2- Eggs

1- Egg yolk

14 ounces of light cream

¼ cup sugar

½ cup cream sherry

½ cup current jelly

2-medium peaches, peeled, pitted and sliced

1 cup sliced fresh strawberries

½ cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon powdered sugar

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Method:

1. Cut cake into ½ inch cubes.

      2.   In heavy saucepan beat eggs and egg yolk.

      3.   Stir in light cream and sugar.

      4.   Cook and stir over medium flame until mixture coats a spoon.

      5.   Pour this custard into a medium bowl and place this in a bowl of ice.

      6.   Stir occasionally.

      7.   Put half of the cake cubes in the bottom of a 2 quart glass bowl.

      8.   Sprinkle half of the cream sherry over the cake

      9.   Using small dollops of jelly put all over the cake.

     10.  Spoon peaches and strawberries over.

     11.  Top with remainder of cake cubes.

     12.  Sprinkle on the rest of the sherry

     13.  Spoon the cooled custard over the cake.

     14.  Beat the cold heavy cream, powdered sugar and vanilla.

     15.  Keep beating until peaks form.

     16.  Spoon the whipped cream over the custard.

     17.  Cover and refrigerate overnight or at least 8 hours.

     18.  When serving, garnish with mint leaves or extra fresh fruit.

The completed trifle looks very beautiful and this recipe is my favourite. I don’t care for the gelatin or the pudding mix trifles.  This is not difficult once you get the hang of it and contains wholesome groceries.

If you so desire, you can substitute thawed and drained frozen peaches and strawberries.  But don’t trifle with it too much, it’s a great dessert.

Enjoy.