English Trifle

This is one of my favorite desserts. Not only does it taste delicious, but it is easy to make, versatile, and it's made from leftovers!

In Europe, cooks are much more thrifty than we are here in America. It wouldn't surprise me if trifle originated as a way to improve day-old cake.

There are only a few ingredients in trifle, but endless variations.

Trifle starts with cake. You can use any of the Sweet Savvy cakes or any other cake you want. The cake is generally sprinkled with dry sherry in England, but you can use any liquor, or fruit juice.

Then there's the custard. You could use any custard recipe and substitute the sweetener of your choice, or try my Creme Brulee.

Then you'll need some Whipped Cream.

And finally, some fresh or thawed frozen fruits and/or jam or preserves.

And maybe some sliced almonds or other chopped nuts or shaved chocolate to sprinkle on top.

That's it! The fun is in choosing the flavors and containers.

Traditionally, an English trifle will have a nice pound cake, dry sherry, plain vanilla custard and raspberries. The cake is ripped in pieces or cut into cubes, and layered in a pedastal glass bowl with the custard, whipped cream and fruits so you can see all the layers.

But you can use any flavor cake, any flavor custard, any fruits and any nuts. I like to use what's in season. I can imagine a honey cake with brandy, pumpkin custard, vanilla whipped cream with stewed cranberries and candied pecans. Or a chocolate cake with chocolate custard, Grand Mariner whipped cream and strawberries.

And you don't need to make a whole bowl full. Make individual servings in any stemmed glass or even on a plate. Even a slice of cake topped with liquor or juice, custard, cream, and fruit counts as a trifle.

This is a great holiday dessert. Made in a large glass bowl, it can feed a family or a crowd.

So have fun with this!