TRIFLE

09.06.2020: Trifle is a British layered dessert comprising of a sponge cake layered with fruits and custard, cream or jelly. Besides Rasmalai, this was the other dessert Mamma prepared for our house parties and it tasted different each time she made it. I love Trifle for its versatility. All you need is a sponge cake (it could be store bought), a soaking liquid, some fruits (I usually love the seasonal ones like mangoes, grapes and cherries) and a semi-solid ingredient such as cream, custard or jelly. You could make this with as many or as few an ingredient you have available at home as long as you have the four bases covered.

Sky and Skip love Trifle as much as I do, unfortunately I don’t make it as often I would like to. I had a box full of gorgeous, red cherries at home and while I was contemplating between the cherry bar and cobbler, I ended up using it to make a compote to add to the trifle. I have been miserly in the amount of cherries I used and hence you see only a sparse spread of that wonderful tangy and sweet cherry sauce.

I prefer adding stone fruits like mangoes, peaches, plums, lychees, cherries to the trifle. Bananas are a staple. You may add any fruit you like, to it. I also add nuts to the Trifle as I like the crunch they provide. I typically sandwich the layers with whipped cream/regular cream.

This is the perfect party dessert. It doesn’t take much time to assemble. It tastes better if prepared the previous day and left in the fridge overnight. You cannot go wrong with this recipe. There is no added sweetener. There are no fixed quantities to the ingredients Besides the cake, there is no additional baking or ‘letting it set’ required. Trifle is a dish best served cold.

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TRIFLE

Ingredients:

Vanilla cake  (you could also use a store bought plain vanilla sponge)

Fruits – bananas, mangoes, cherries(you may use any fruits of your choice)

Nuts- walnuts, cashews (toasted)

Cream (you may use whipped cream, custard or jelly)

Soaking liquid - Condensed milk dissolved in water (you may use fruit juice or sugar water)

Topping - cherry compote (you may use chocolate shavings, chopped nuts or more fruits)

Method:

1.     Split the cake into three layers.

2.   Place one layer of the cake in the serving dish. Mix 2 tablespoons of condensed milk in half a cup of water and pour half of it on the cake.

3.  Top it with cream. Add chopped bananas and toasted walnuts. I have sprinkled Milo (chocolate malt powder).

4.     Add the next layer of cake. Pour the remaining soaking liquid.

5.     Top it with cream, mangoes and cashews.

6.   Add the final layer of cake. I’ve spread a little cream and topped it with cherry compote and toasted cashews.

7.  For the cherry compote: Take a handful of pitted cherries (or more), add 1 tablespoon of sugar, juice of half a lemon and cook over medium heat until the cherries soften and the liquid thickens. (Around 5 -8 minutes)

8.     Done.

The Trifle pictures may not look the best but it did taste delicious. I would recommend making this a few hours in advance so that the juices soak through the cake.