Festive Sherry Trifle Recipe (Classic English Trifle)

An epicurean adventure to: The United Kingdom

We all know that Christmas is the perfect time for indulging in those extra-special treats, and what better way to make your festive feast unforgettable than with a show-stopping Sherry Trifle?

Now, before anyone starts raising their spoons in protest, it's essential to remember that English trifles are as diverse as the families who make them.

The traditional English trifle recipe is built on four essential elements:

1. A cake base (sponge fingers or sponge cake).

2. A fruity layer (fresh berries, canned fruit or other seasonal fruit).

3. A luscious custard, shop-bought or homemade and, of course...

4. A billowing cloud of whipped cream.

The order in which you build it and the exact variety of each ingredient is up to you, whether you're starting your own modern tradition or sticking to what you know and love.

As for the decorations, let your creativity run wild with flaked almonds, crushed biscuits, more fruit, colourful sprinkles, mini meringues or any personal touch you fancy or whatever is traditional and meaningful to you.

Ah, but here's where it gets interesting - our recipe includes jelly, a topic that sparks lively and heated debates!

Some might think it's a relic from the WW2 era, but in reality the earliest recorded trifle recipe with jelly dates back to 1760. In our books, that makes it traditional.

In this version, we use a box cake mix for the sponge. The baked cake gets sandwiched with jam and then we lower the WHOLE cake onto a layer of jelly, followed by a good soaking of sherry.

We also opt for crème pâtissière, although traditional custard is a perfect choice as well.

This trifle is incredibly adaptable, so feel free to tweak quantities for each layer according to the size of your trifle bowl. We discuss each ingredient further down and we make recommendations for easy swaps. You can make this as simple or as elaborate as you want.

Our recipe is tailored for a 20cm x 20cm trifle bowl, but you can easily adjust it to suit your own.

Remember, you don't have to save trifle just for Christmas time, there are no rules! Enjoy it anytime during the year.

Fast facts - United Kingdom

Location	The United Kingdom (UK) is located in North-western Europe, comprising four countries: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
Capital	London.
Language	In addition to English and Welsh, the United Kingdom is home to a rich linguistic diversity with twelve other indigenous languages used including Gaelic, Cornish, Manx, Scots and three sign languages. English stands as the most widely spoken language, while Cornish is among the least commonly used.
Population	Circa 66.8 million people.
Trivia	Letters sent by children in the UK, where they address Father Christmas with locations like "Toyland" or "Snowland," are usually forwarded to Edinburgh. Meanwhile, those directed to the North Pole find their way to the post office located at the Santa Claus Holiday Village on the outskirts of Rovaniemi, nestled within the Arctic Circle of Finland.

Key ingredients and substitutions

**Please see the recipe card at the bottom of this post for the full list of ingredients.

Vanilla cake mix

What sets this trifle apart is using an entire round cake as a layer, stepping away from the more typical sponge fingers or sliced cake.

Opting for a cake mix is not just convenient, it's also wonderfully foolproof. It's an ideal choice for non-bakers who still want to make a showstopper trifle from 'scratch'. (Hey, you did put raw cake mixture in the oven, it'll do for 'from scratch'!)

To ensure a harmonious fit with your trifle bowl, remember to match the size of your baking tin to your specific needs. For instance, if your trifle bowl, like the one we use, has a 20cm diameter, then choose a corresponding 20cm (8") cake pan.

Here are the steps we took to prepare the cake for the trifle:

• We baked the cake mix in a single 20cm (8") baking tin.

• After baking, we gently sliced off the top to create a level surface, both for consistency and to avoid an overly thick layer in the trifle bowl. Enjoy the offcuts with a cup of tea!

• Next, we sliced the cake horizontally and generously layered it with jam.

• For a more polished appearance, we took the extra step of trimming the cake's edges with a sharp bread knife, removing the slightly darker outer layer.
  
  It's an optional touch, but it adds to the overall visual appeal. This step also comes in handy if you need to adjust the cake's size to fit your particular trifle dish.

You can absolutely bake your own vanilla sponge cake from scratch if you wish. Alternatively, use shop-bought Madeira cake or sponge fingers which you can arrange however you wish to form a layer. Don't forget to add jam!

Jelly (Jell-O in the US)

Go for raspberry jelly or strawberry jelly, unless you're using a different fruit like tinned peaches or pears. If that's the case, look for a jelly flavour that pairs well with it.

How much jelly you ultimately need depends on the size of your bowl or how thick YOU want the jelly and fruit layer to be.

In our 20cm trifle bowl, we found that 500ml of prepared jelly was just right.

The fruit

In this recipe, we go for frozen mixed berries. No need to defrost them before adding them to the bowl, the warm jelly takes care of that.

Feel free to use fresh berries or any other fresh fruit you like. Canned fruits are also a great choice, just be sure to drain them properly before adding to your trifle.

Jam

In most cases, traditional fruit jams like raspberry jam and strawberry jam work wonderfully.

However, if you're using a different fruit and want to match your jam to it, feel free to do so. It's all about making it your own!

Sweet sherry

It is an English sherry trifle after all! We typically use eight tablespoons - that's our sweet spot. But of course, you can adjust the amount based on your preferences.

Another fortified beverage, such as Madeira wine, also works well.

If you're going for a non-alcoholic version, simply skip the sherry or replace it with fruit juice, like orange juice.

Crème pâtissière or custard

One of the highlights of our trifle is using crème pâtissière, or pastry cream as it's also known.

It's our personal favourite because it's richer, slightly thicker and more flavorful than regular custard thanks to the abundance of egg yolks it contains. The great news is, it's simpler to make than you might think and won't take you longer than 10 minutes.

You can follow our step-by-step Crème Pâtissière recipe here if you'd like to give it a go.

In a rush? No problem, you can either whip up your own custard from scratch, with custard powder (Bird's custard) or opt for a high-quality ready-made custard. Typically, trifle benefits from a slightly thicker custard, so keep an eye out for those.

Once more, feel free to adjust the quantity to match your bowl's size or adjust to how thick you want the custard layer to be.

Double cream

If you can, use double cream, or heavy cream as it's known in the US. Double cream is a great pick for a trifle because it's thick and creamy, giving the dessert a luxurious feel.

Whipping cream would be a good second choice.

Some tips when whipping the cream:

• Whipping cream when it's fridge-cold is ideal because it whips up faster, becoming fluffier and more stable. The chilly temperature helps the cream hold its shape.

• Optionally, you can make a quick Chantilly cream by adding a tablespoon of icing sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla extract to the cream before you start whipping it.

• Don't overwhip the cream so that it becomes dry and grainy looking. You want it to be soft and billowing, like clouds. Some visual clues to know when to stop whipping are:
  
  
  • When you see trails left by the whisk.
    
  • The cream forms soft peaks that just about hold their shape.
    
  • It gathers between the wires of the whisk, needing a little nudge to come out.

The toppings

The sky's the limit! In this recipe, we go with fresh raspberries and mini meringues, but you have the creative freedom to choose your own toppings.

You can get imaginative with options like sprinkles, crushed amaretti biscuits, sliced strawberries etc.

How to make Sherry Trifle: Step-by-step

1. Bake the box cake mix as directed on the package and let it cool fully.
   
   Select a baking tin that matches your trifle bowl's diameter, for example, if your trifle bowl is 20cm wide, go for a 20cm diameter cake tin. If needed, you can use a larger tin and then neatly trim the cake to fit.

2. Prepare the jelly according to the package instructions.

3. Measure the fruit and pour it into the bottom of your trifle bowl.
   
   If you are using frozen berries, no need to defrost them first. If you are using canned fruit, be sure to drain them very well first.

4. Pour the prepared jelly over the fruit up to the level you prefer for your trifle.

5. Put the trifle bowl in the fridge for at least 6 hours to let the jelly mixture completely set. Overnight is even better!

6. Gently trim off the slightly browned top of the cake (if you'd like) and then, with a gentle hand, slice the cake in half horizontally.
   
   If you want a thinner cake layer, you can trim off more from the top.

7. Gently place one of the cake layers on top of the set jelly and fruit layer.

8. Spread the jam evenly over the layer, leaving a small margin around the edges. This will help keep the jam from oozing out too much when you add the top cake layer.

9. Place the second cake layer on top of the jam-covered layer.

10. Evenly spoon the sherry over the cake.

11. Slowly pour or spoon the crème pâtissière or custard into the bowl. Be sure to leave enough space at the top to accommodate the cream layer.

12. Spoon the cream on top of the crème pât or custard layer.
    
    For that dreamy, billowy look, take a generously large spoon and gently add the cream, one spoonful at a time, on top of the custard layer, building it up gradually as you go.

13. Add the raspberries and mini meringues, or any toppings you prefer.

Variations

• The cake: Use shop-bought Madeira cake, swiss roll, sponge fingers (trifle sponges) or ladyfinger cookies instead of baking the cake.

• The fruit: Apart from mixed berries, consider using fresh strawberries or other individual berries, like blueberries or raspberries.
  
  You can also use canned fruits, like mixed fruit, peaches, strawberries, mandarin segments, apricots etc.
  
  Dried fruit compote with a mixture of pears, prunes, apples and apricots is a delicious alternative to fresh fruits and goes particularly well with the custard layer.

• The jelly: Change the flavour of jelly to match your choice of fruit and jam. There's a world of exciting jelly flavours out there, depending on your location, such as mango, cherry, greengage, guava, lychee and more!

• Create individual servings by layering the same trifle components in separate glass bowls.

Trifle topping ideas

• Fresh fruits

• Crushed amaretti biscuits, shortbread or even ginger snaps.

• Crushed Flake or other chocolate shavings.

• Sugared rosemary sprigs (not for eating, just decoration)

• Sprinkles.

• Sparklers.

• Birthday cake candles.

• Fountain sparklers.

• Nuts like flaked almonds, chopped peanuts, pecans etc.

• Fresh mint leaves.

• Edible flowers.

• Toasted coconut.

• Crushed praline.

• Fruit coulis.

• Small cubes of jelly.

• Crushed candy canes.

• Truffles.

• Whole decorated Christmas cookies.

Storage suggestions

The leftover trifle is best stored in the fridge to keep it cool and safe. Cover the trifle bowl tightly with plastic wrap or an airtight lid to prevent air exposure, which can lead to drying out or the absorption of other odours from the fridge.

Trifle is at its best when consumed within a day or two. The longer it sits, the more likely it is to become soggy as the layers blend.

It's not suitable for freezing as the dairy products will split and become watery.

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