Love it or hate it, trifle is a Christmas classic and wonderfully nostalgic. While trifles these days can come in all shapes and forms, from chocolate to salted caramel, traditional British trifles of the 18th and 19th centuries were quite different from the brightly layered, jelly-filled desserts many people picture today.
In their earliest form, trifles were built from just a few key elements: sponge cake, sherry, apricot or other fruit jam, custard, and lightly whipped cream. Jelly was not part of these early trifles at all and it only became popular much later, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when gelatine became widely available and decorative layered desserts came into fashion. I’ve been making my grandmother’s traditional trifle recipe every Christmas for years, and it’s always a showstopper while being surprisingly easy to assemble.
My grandmother was known for a boozy trifle, but you can adapt this recipe to your liking. One step I always skip to make things extra simple is making homemade custard. Instead, you can use a powdered custard such as Bird’s, which tastes just as delicious.
Christmas trifle recipe
Ingredients
Two packs ladyfingers (or about eight sponge squares, cut up — enough to cover the base of a large dish)One jar apricot jam (about 340–450100–150ml sweet sherry (eg Croft Original)One litre custard, thin-ish (made from Bird’s custard powder, ready-to-pour, or homemade)300–600ml double cream (depending how much cream you prefer)
To decorate:
Glacé cherriesFlaked almonds
Method:
Break up the sponge ladyfingers or sponge cakes and spread them over the bottom of a large glass dish.
Spoon the apricot jam over the sponge and spread it out generously so most of the sponge is covered. Use a skewer, fork, or knife to poke lots of holes all over the sponge layer (this helps everything soak through).
Sprinkle the sweet sherry evenly over the sponge and jam. Don’t flood it all in one spot — try to drizzle it around so it soaks in evenly.
If using custard powder, make it pourable rather than a very thick one — thin enough to seep into the sponge, but not watery. Let it cool until it’s no longer hot, so it doesn’t melt the jam/cream later.
Slowly pour the custard all over the sponge and jam. As you pour, keep poking holes so the custard sinks down into the sponge rather than sitting on top.
Put the dish in the fridge and leave it until the custard has firmed up (a few hours, or overnight is perfect).
Whip the double cream until it’s thickened but still soft and spoonable — not stiff. Spoon or spread the lightly whipped cream over the set custard.
Finish with glacé cherries and a scattering of flaked almonds.
