OLD FASHIONED TRIFLE
This Recipe Serves 4-8
This Old Fashioned Trifle is one of the classics in our household. It is fairly simple to prepare & it was how my late grandmother prepared it.
Trifle is basically glorious layers of fruit, jelly, custard, cream & cake – there are many variations to this & the list is endless for the ingredients added. It originated in England & due to South African history, we have many English foods/desserts that still carry tradition.
So here’s the trick of what my grandmother did to moisten the cake…she would use Sparletta Raspberry cooldrink & drizzle that over the cake to ensure it remains moist. If you have never tried it, now is your chance to give it a go. She usually just scooped the jelly once set, however I wanted to make it a little more fancy & I cut the jelly into cubes & then added the layer. Feel free to adjust this recipe to suite your preferences.
Old Fashioned Trifle Ingredients:
- 80 grams jelly
- 225 ml boiling water
- 225 ml cold water
- 1 trifle sponge cake
- 290 grams Nestle dessert cream
- 240 grams canned peaches
- 500 ml vanilla custard
- 440 ml Sparletta Raspberry (bottle is for easy pouring but only using about ¼ of the bottle)
Method:
- Firstly, prepare the jelly. I am using the cherry flavour but you may use your favourites.
- Add the jelly granules to a casserole & follow the instructions on the packaging.
- Pour in 225 ml boiling water & stir until the granules dissolve. Thereafter, pour in the 225 ml cold water & stir.
- Cover the casserole & allow the jelly to set in the refrigerator for ±2 hours.
- Once set, it should be jiggly without any runny liquid.
- The jelly can be scooped into the trifle when layering but if you want the cubes then simply use a knife & gently slice vertically & horizontally to form the cubes.
- When ready to use the jelly, drag a spoon under the cubes & they should easily come off.
- Now it’s time to begin preparing the trifle so bring out a deep trifle bowl.
- Bring out the Sparletta Raspberry cooldrink.
- Remove the cap & poke a few holes into it – this will help distribute the cooldrink evenly over the cake when pouring, Secure the lid once done.
- Bring out the can of peaches.
- Drain off the syrup from the can as we won’t be using it & keep the peaches in a bowl. Some use the syrup to soak the cake but I will stick to the Sparletta.
- I am using this store bought sponge cake, I found that this fits perfectly into the bowl but other sponges like swiss rolls or madeira can be sliced & placed inside – if you have the time, you can even make a sponge from scratch.
- This cake is quite thick so I cut it into halves.
- Start layering by adding the top half of the cake into the trifle bowl (inside of the cake facing up). You can flatten it a bit by pressing on it firmly.
- Now for the fun part – drizzle over the Sparletta cooldrink making sure to get it all over the cake, do not over soak it as it will turn to mush. Just use a little of the cooldrink (keep in mind, I only used about ¼ of the bottle in total for both the cakes, I had a lot left over but I use the bottle as it is easier to pour over the cake).
- Pour a layer of vanilla custard over the cake.
- Add ½ the can of peaches over the custard.
- Pour ½ the can of dessert cream over the peaches. Fresh or whipped cream may be used as an alternative – just be sure to whisk the dessert cream in the can before pouring as it can be clumpy.
- Add a layer of the jelly.
- Place the other half of the cake into the bowl (inside of the cake facing up).
- Once again, drizzle over the Sparletta cooldrink.
- Add another layer of vanilla custard. I was almost to the top of the bowl so I didn’t add a lot of custard, I used a spoon to spread it out evenly.
- Due to space, I just added the peaches on the circumference.
- I added some jelly to the center of the peaches.
- Pour over the remaining ½ of the dessert cream.
- Finally, bring out the flake & crumble it over the cream.
- Pop it into the refrigerator for about an hour so that it can set & cool throughout.
- Once cooled, this Old Fashioned Trifle can be served.
- It is absolutely delicious & perfect for the festive season.
- This dessert can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.