A mere trifle...
One of my simple delights in life is making a simple packet trifle. It is certainly not the most sophisticated of foods but it is a dessert that I remember from my childhood.
It is manufactured by a company made famous for its custard. And contained in the outside packaging are five packets, sponge fingers, custard powder, cream substitute, hundreds and thousands and controversially jelly.
It's a pretty simple recipe. First make the jelly, let it cool and then break the sponge fingers into a bowl. I like to use an expensive cut glass bowl, to make the pudding look more important. At this stage you can also add some fruit. Fresh raspberries are good but it you are daring try a drained can of fruit cocktail, the stuff that contains those fruit which are in fact grapes but look as if they have been crossed with an olive. Then pour on the cooled jelly and put this in the fridge to set.
Next custard. Add the powder in the packet to some milk and sugar to make a delicious starchy paste, I actually like this. Then heat some milk to just before boiling and pour onto the mix, return to the pan and heat slowly until boiling and the custard has thickened. Allow to cool. At this point it is a good idea to use cling film on the top to prevent the formation of skin. I hate custard skin with a vengeance.
Once cooled pour onto the set jelly and then whisk the cream substitute topping with some milk and spread on top, sprinkle with hundreds and thousands and present to your guests, a masterpiece.
The controversy about the trifle comes from whether it should contain jelly or not. The original trifle recipe of the 1700's appeared not to. However as time as passed opinion has changed. If you ask your friends you may well find a difference in opinion. Writing in the New Statesman, Bee Wilson suggests that jelly in trifle is a class thing, the lower class you are the more jelly you put in the trifle.
I find it interesting that in a make over a few years ago Heston Blumenthal decided that his ultimate trifle would indeed contain strawberry jelly, although his posh Jubilee trifle recipe replaced the jelly with a strawberry compote! Moreover, Jamie Oliver's mother no less makes her trifle with orange flavoured jelly. Who am I to argue?
Perhaps I'm just lower class?
It is manufactured by a company made famous for its custard. And contained in the outside packaging are five packets, sponge fingers, custard powder, cream substitute, hundreds and thousands and controversially jelly.
It's a pretty simple recipe. First make the jelly, let it cool and then break the sponge fingers into a bowl. I like to use an expensive cut glass bowl, to make the pudding look more important. At this stage you can also add some fruit. Fresh raspberries are good but it you are daring try a drained can of fruit cocktail, the stuff that contains those fruit which are in fact grapes but look as if they have been crossed with an olive. Then pour on the cooled jelly and put this in the fridge to set.
Next custard. Add the powder in the packet to some milk and sugar to make a delicious starchy paste, I actually like this. Then heat some milk to just before boiling and pour onto the mix, return to the pan and heat slowly until boiling and the custard has thickened. Allow to cool. At this point it is a good idea to use cling film on the top to prevent the formation of skin. I hate custard skin with a vengeance.
The controversy about the trifle comes from whether it should contain jelly or not. The original trifle recipe of the 1700's appeared not to. However as time as passed opinion has changed. If you ask your friends you may well find a difference in opinion. Writing in the New Statesman, Bee Wilson suggests that jelly in trifle is a class thing, the lower class you are the more jelly you put in the trifle.
I find it interesting that in a make over a few years ago Heston Blumenthal decided that his ultimate trifle would indeed contain strawberry jelly, although his posh Jubilee trifle recipe replaced the jelly with a strawberry compote! Moreover, Jamie Oliver's mother no less makes her trifle with orange flavoured jelly. Who am I to argue?
Perhaps I'm just lower class?
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