Name: Summer Trifle with Berries
Prep time: 45 min
Ingredients: 4 cups cubed sponge or pound cake, (see Notes for the gluten free Vanilla Sponge Cake recipe I use); 6 tbsp Prosecco, ((can replace this with Rosé, Bourbon, or simple syrup if desired)); 1 cup heavy whipping cream; 2 tbsp icing or powdered sugar; 1/2 tsp vanilla extract; Lemon Cheesecake Layer; 4 oz full fat cream cheese, (softened to room temperature (1/2 of an 8 oz or 224 gram block)); 1/4 tsp vanilla extract; 1/2 cup homemade Lemon Curd, ((see Notes for the best Lemon Curd ever)); Fruit Layer; 3 + cups fresh berries, (I use sliced strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and sliced cherries); 2 tbsp slivered almonds ((optional garnish) )

The ultimate no bake, clean out the fridge, freezer and pantry dessert has just got to be a good trifle!

What I love about a trifle, is that it can use just about any combination of flavours and ingredients that you happen to have on hand. Even the name trifle implies, a little bit of this, a little bit of that! While this recipe is a perfect addition to a summer bbq or family reunion, trifles work great all year round, as you will see from some of my flavour options outlined below. Black Forest Trifle anyone? Perfect winter treat.

Where does Trifle Come From?

Here’s what the New York Times had to say on the subject:

There is no record of the origin of the name trifle but as early as 1598 an Oxford-educated translator, John Florio, referred to ”A kinde of clouted creame called a foole or a trifle in English.” In the time of Elizabeth I a trifle was a simple combination of cream and rosewater, flavored with ginger and sugar, a light frothy dessert, closer to a syllabub (cream whipped with fruit juice and liquor) than a trifle.

But by the middle of the 18th century, trifles included ratafia (almond-flavored biscuits) or macaroons soaked in sweet wine, covered with custard and topped with whipped cream. According to the English food writer Elizabeth David, ”for nearly a century the syllabub had been keeping company with the trifle and in due course the trifle came to reign in the syllabub’s stead. The syllabub and the trifle were eventually amalgamated to make one glorious sticky mess.”

As per Katherine over at In the Vintage Kitchen:

The adjectives commonly associated with it are “tipsy, whimsical, drunken, inconsequential, foolish, scrapy, flurried. It was first made in the 1500’s, but really became part of the popular dessert vernacular in the 1700’s, and was one of the few sweet treats of its day that appealed to practically every type of eater, from the thrifty homemaker to the flamboyant palace chef. Legend states that its origin may have originally sprouted in Spain or Italy, but once the British embraced it, it became a wholly English dessert. And it came complete with cute nicknames – The Tipsy Parson, The Tipsy Hedgehog, The Tipsy Squire. All an homage to the alcohol cleverly disguised inside the cake and custard that held the whole assemblage together.

”In Victorian times, it was regarded as a way of finishing up things, like sponge cakes and cream,” she said in an interview. ”So they took stale sponge cakes and leftover custard from the nursery, soaked the cakes in wine and poured on the custard. Since you couldn’t refrigerate the cream, if there was some about, you poured it on top.”

Bottom line, it is the most yummy concoction of the best textures, flavours, creamy goodness and a bit of booze! It is beloved, homey, cozy, guys love it (don’t ask me why, but maybe it’s the liqueur?!) and is such a retro classic that still finds it way onto dessert tables, potluck and family reunion picnics, and winter gatherings.

What Goes Into My Trifles?

Cake: As noted above, a good sponge cake or angel food cake is a great place to start. Or how about leftover pound cake? A lemon loaf that you have in the freezer? Even brownies, jelly rolls or meringues work great! I will often freeze leftovers of cakes to be turned into mini trifles or tiramisu, so the freezer is really your friend in this instance. Bake when it isn’t too hot out, and keep those rounds or slices ready in the freezer for when you need to show up with a summer dessert. And if all else fails, purchase some donuts or day old croissants and call it a day!

Here is my Lemon Pound Cake recipe

Here is the Vanilla Sponge Cake recipe I rely on. And yes, this is gluten free sponge, so this dessert is a great gluten free option.

Try these Meringue Cookies for a fun alternative.

And here are two great brownie options to use in a trifle: Halva Salted Rye Brownies and Triple Chocolate Stout Brownies.

Pudding: Sure, you can use your favourite pudding mix. Or you can blend whipped cream with cream cheese for a firm smooth layer, and flavour it the way you would like. Custard, curd, even Creme Anglaise can all be used in a trifle. Wouldn’t Bourbon Caramel sauce be amazing to flavour the cream cheese and whipped cream!?

Jam and Alcohol: Do you have a half jar of jam in the fridge? Then why not add it to a trifle? Thin it out by warming it on the stove top in a small pot with some water or juice (or wine, liqueur) till you have a runny sauce. This can be layered so that it flavours the cake layer. My Balsamic Roasted Strawberry Jam would be amazing in a trifle.

Fruit: Almost anything goes here!! I have had trifles made with everything from bananas, citrus, plums, peaches, cherries, and of course berries. There really are no rules, just have the fruit cut into easy to manage bite sized pieces. If they are firm fruit slices, you may want to give them a quick maceration in sugar and a bit of Prosecco or wine. But not so long that they start to break down and release too much liquid.

Whipped Cream: As per the oldest references to this dessert, whipped cream better show up somewhere! So if you haven’t folded it into the pudding layer etc at some point, then make sure you have some on hand to finish the top layer. Scatter the top with slivered almonds, chopped nuts, fresh fruit etc, and you will have a showstopper of a great dessert.

What Vessel Should You Use?

Yes, this is a dessert that from above may just look like a sea of whipped cream. And if you use a bowl that is made from ceramic etc, you would have no idea of what is going on underneath. Half the fun of a trifle is the presentation, seeing those layers in all their glory. But I’ll be honest, for all the gadgets, appliances, tools, and dishes I have, I don’t own an official trifle bowl. It is just one of those items that I can’t understand having, especially when we live in a condo. It really only does one thing: hold trifle. I guess I could serve a chopped layered salad in it, but that would be a lot of salad!

So I use my glass mixing bowls and food container bowls. The kind that come with the silicone or rubber lids. And here is my trick, depending on the size of the bowl I choose to use, I use an appropriate shot glass for the base! Yep, from afar, you wouldn’t think twice, it looks like a classic trifle bowl!

But to make it even easier, and to ensure that every one gets all the layers, I love using martini, large wine, or larger water glasses. Personal sized, with all the layers visible! Job done. Use glasses that hold at least 1 cup of water etc. Plus this means that you can make trifle with the bits and bobs in the fridge, and not have to commit to entire large bowlful that would feed 12 people! Pictured below is a bowl that holds enough to feed four people.

Amounts Needed to Make Enough Trifle for Six People

Here is the basic breakdown of what is needed:

You will need about 4 cups of cake of some sort.

Count on 3-4 cups of fruit, which will allow for some as a finishing garnish

Approximately two cups of whipped cream

2 1/2 cups of pudding of some sort ( You can use packaged pudding, make chocolate pudding, or whatever strikes your fancy. For my pudding layer, I will be using 1 cup of softened cream cheese and 1/2 cup of lemon curd to mix together, which will get combined with half of the whipped cream in the recipe below)

6 tbsp of liqueur or wine/Prosecco (but totally optional and not required) Even whisky or bourbon would be great. If you want to make this alcohol free, just use the thinned out jam as a flavouring for the cake. See above.

Additional optional components: 6 tbsp jam, 6 tbsp chopped or slivered nuts (optional)

Flavour Combinations

Obviously a lemon or vanilla based cake will work with just about anything! But let’s say you have chocolate cake or brownies in mind. Then why not use bananas, peanut butter, tahini, and coffee as flavour combos? Or cherries, plums, kirsch, and mint? (And yes, in the middle of winter, if you want to make a Black Forest Trifle, using cherry pie filling or frozen cherries will work just fine). Meringue cookies would be great with blackberries, kiwi, mango, citrus, Prosecco and lime.

Final Thoughts

Start with cake and layer, with the jam sauce (if you are using) layered on top. Then add the fresh fruit, and then the pudding layer and some of the nuts if using. Repeat until you are almost at the top. Leave room for whipped cream and a final garnish of fresh fruit and nuts if using. Making this ahead is important, as the time in the fridge will ensure that any liqueur, jam or pudding can seep down into the cake to flavour and soften it adequately. Garnish just before serving.

I am giving you the amounts needed to feed six, no matter which vessel you choose to use. Whether it is all personal sized glasses or bowls, or a mid sized glass mixing bowl, you’ll be fine. You can easily double the entire recipe to fill a traditional large trifle bowl. Bottom line, there really are no rules for this dessert. You can use this recipe as a template, if you don’t have enough of one component, or want to use more of another, go for it. Since no baking is required, you really can’t mess this dessert up!

Won’t lie, leftovers make great breakfast!

Disclaimer (from Jim!) If decorating the top of the trifle with fresh fruit, please remove the stems so that they can be eaten without having to dissect! Yes, one of his pet peeves is when he eats something that I have garnished for photo purposes!

Love Jen