Europe: England, U.K
Trifle is one of the oldest desserts in the UK and it has originated somewhere in 16th century and was originally a dish of cream boiled with various mixes. As per the The Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999: The word trifle derives from the Middle English trufl which in turn came from the Old French trufe (or truffle), meaning something of little importance. Originally, in the late 16th century, the culinary meaning of the word trifle was a dish composed of cream boiled with various ingredients… Trifle is the one of the richest English dessert and it is served on special occasins like Christmas. This dessert has popular variants like “Sherry Trifle” often referred to as “High Church” and the recent gelatin soaked sponge cake. As per as historical records the first Trifle was published in The Good Hyswife’s Jewell, 1596 by T. Dawson, followed by a rennet variation of the preceding recipe by the legendary cook Robert May, followed by complete transformation to the existing trifles with macaroons soaked in wine and then the trifle made today probably gives you with a final form with sponge cakes, layered with fruits, custard and whipped cream on the top.
Over the years trifle transformed completely with the addition of flavors and the replacement of ingredients to make it more gorgeous. The final recipe is as follows:
1. Halve the sponge cake from the middle, sandwich it with jam and soak it with fruit syrup, red wine or any fruit pulp.
2. Top it with a layer of fresh fruits like bananas, papayas, strawberries, peaches and pineapples.
3. Prepare thick custard by making a smooth custard mixture by adding custard and milk. Boiling milk and sugar in a separate saucepan and adding spoonful of boiled milk to the custard mixture and then blending it properly before returning the custard to the boiling milk.
4. Blend the custard mixture properly with boiled milk.
5. Cool the custard and let it set completely
6. Top it over the sponge cakes and fruits and finish it with cream, cherries and the berries you like the most
