​Traditional British Trifle Recipe

The trifle is a classic dessert staple that has graced tables crossing centuries as well as continents. Originating in 18th-century Britain as a way to use up stale, leftover cake, this pudding certainly had humble beginnings. Over the years the trifle has been adapted and developed so many times that it has become a modern category of dessert in its own right. And, with such a malleable concept and so many delicious ingredients to play with, you really can't go wrong.

This traditional British trifle recipe, from the kitchen of resident Brit Jennine Rye, takes the trifle back to its roots in a recipe that would be at home on the table of almost any family in the U.K. Most households across Britain will have their own established, closely-guarded version of this recipe, passed down from generation to generation and served at birthdays, Christmastime, and other important events. Rye recalls her mother-in-law's trifle, known as the Grandad Dave memorial trifle, which makes an important appearance at every family gathering.

To assemble this traditional trifle, chunks of vanilla cake are soaked in sherry before being set with fresh raspberries in a fruity raspberry jelly (Jell-O to Americans). The set jelly is then covered with a thick layer of custard and topped off with lashings of softly whipped cream. Decorated simply with fresh raspberries and almond slivers, this traditional take on the popular pudding is ultra-satisfying and will fulfill all your nostalgic dessert desires.

To begin this ​traditional British trifle recipe, first, you will need to gather the ingredients. You will want vanilla cake, fresh raspberries, sherry, raspberry jelly (flavored gelatin), ready-made custard, whipping cream, and sliced almonds.

If you are unable to get your hands on classic British ingredients like raspberry jelly cubes and ready-made custard, don't fret! The custard can either be homemade or you can substitute this ingredient for instant vanilla pudding. For most Americans, the brand name Jell-O has become a generic name for flavored gelatin, or what is known in the U.K. as jelly. As an option for the jelly, if you can't get your hands on British jelly cubes, you can use any brand of raspberry gelatin powder or sheets, or just stick with raspberry Jell-O as an alternate.

Slice the vanilla cake into 1-inch cubes.

Place the cake into the base of a trifle dish.

Add 1 cup of fresh raspberries to the trifle dish.

Drizzle the sherry over the vanilla cake.

Break the raspberry jelly cubes up into a heatproof bowl. (Or make raspberry-flavored gelatin according to the package instructions.)

Pour 1 ¼ cups boiling hot water over the jelly cubes and mix well until the cubes dissolve.

Add 1 cup of cold water to the jelly mixture, to make 1 pint of jelly in total.

Set aside to cool for 10 minutes.

Pour the jelly mixture over the cake and berries in the trifle dish.

Transfer the trifle dish to the fridge for at least 2 – 3 hours until the raspberry jelly has set.

Once the jelly has set, remove the trifle dish from the fridge.

In a large bowl, add the whipping cream.

Using a balloon whisk or a handheld mixer, whisk the cream until soft peaks form.

Pour the ready-made custard in a layer over the set jelly.

Spoon the softly whipped cream over the top of the custard.

Top the cream with the remaining ½ cup raspberries and sprinkle over the sliced almonds.

Serve.

If you are assembling this trifle recipe from Britain you'll likely find it very easy to locate all of the ingredients needed. However, finding ready-made custard might be a little harder if you live elsewhere. It is still perfectly possible to whip up a version of this traditional British trifle that will still stay true to the original concept, you'll just need to do a little more of the work yourself.

You can easily cook up your own custard, also known as crème anglaise, in the comfort of your kitchen, you will just need milk, egg yolks, sugar, cornflour, and vanilla extract. Simply heat the milk with the vanilla extract, and stir together the yolks, sugar, and cornflour in a separate bowl. Then, gradually incorporate the hot milk into the egg yolk mixture, stirring constantly. Once combined, place the mixture onto the stove on a low heat and cook it until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. At this stage, you will need to set the custard aside to cool before using it in your trifle, but if you are impatient, you can submerge your hot pan of custard into a cool bowl of ice water, and keep stirring until the mixture is cool. While making your own custard is simple enough, if it feels like too much of a faff you can also always just use instant vanilla pudding.

One of the reasons why trifles never fall out of style is due to their adaptability. A trifle is simply a dessert with layers of cake and cream, meaning that there is a lot of room for individuality when it comes to this pudding. The core flavors of this particular recipe are vanilla and raspberry, which make a classic pairing, although strawberry is often used as well. However, if you prefer citrus flavors over berries, you can always swap out the raspberries and raspberry jelly for a lime, lemon, or orange-flavored jelly, and continue the theme with the fruits you choose for decoration. To add even more fruity flavor you could also introduce a layer of fruit curd. Depending on your chosen flavors lemon curd is always a delicious idea, or to add a tropical lilt passionfruit curd adds heaps of rich zingy flavor.

If fruit desserts aren't your thing, you can still indulge in the wonder dessert that is the trifle. Instead of a fruit jelly you can layer up this dessert using a chocolate mousse, or caramel or creamy butterscotch-flavored pudding. To add more variety the type of cake used for the base can also be switched up, and this is a great way to use up any leftovers just like our ancestors. This Black Forest trifle recipe uses slices of Swiss roll for a chocolatey creamy base that also provides a stunning visual element to the assembled dessert.