Cooking Lesson #225: English Raspberry Trifle With Lemon Custard

… from The California Kitchen

Strawberries & Cream Trifle

 How you doin’? Have you ever thought about what would King Henry might have eaten for dessert at one of his royal feasts? No need to ponder any longer—it would have been English Trifle, of course!
 
Trifle, in English cuisine, is a dessert made with fruit, thin layers of cake and egg custard. It is topped with whipped cream and more berries or fresh fruit. The fruit and sponge layers are usually assembled in three or four layers. You can be very creative… the contents of a trifle are highly customizable. Many varieties exist, some forgoing fruit entirely and instead using other ingredients such as chocolate, coffee or vanilla. According to some culinary scholars, trifles are the origin of modern sandwich cakes, only better.
 
The Scots have a similar dish to trifle, Tipsy Laird, made with Drambuie or whisky. In the Southern United States there is a variant of trifle known as Tipsy Cake. A similar dessert in Germany and Austria is called Punschtorte. In Italy, a similar dessert based on trifle is Zuppa Inglese, or English Soup; in Spain, this dessert is known as Bizcocho Borracho.

Photo credit: Choclatique... 150 Simply Elegant Desserts, Ed Engoron

Prep time:  15 minutes
Bake time:  30 minutes
Chill time:  2 to 3 hours
Yield:  8 servings
 
Ingredients
1 package of either yellow or white cake mix, baked and cut into cubes (be even more creative and make it chocolate)
1 cup seedless raspberry jam
1-3/4 cups heavy cream
4 large egg yolks
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1-1/4 cups heavy cream
1/8 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
12 ounces fresh raspberries, plus 8 to 10 more for topping
2-ounces toasted sliced almonds
 
Directions

1. Bake the cake mix according to the manufacturer’s directions in a 11 x 13-inch pan.
2. Let the cake cool and cut into 2-inch squares.
3. Spread the jam on the inside of a trifle dish (or medium size glass bowl) and set aside.
4. Heat 1-3/4 cups of the cream in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
5. While the cream is heating, beat the egg yolks with the 4 tablespoons sugar until pale yellow and smooth.
6. Strain yolk mixture into a clean bowl.
7. Add the lemon zest and mix.
8. Temper the cream by adding it to the egg yolk and sugar mixture a little at a time to prevent the eggs from scrambling.
9. Pour the remaining warm cream into egg yolk and sugar mixture and stir vigorously.
10. Return mixture to saucepan over low heat and cook, stirring, until thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon.
11. Remove from heat and allow to cool. The custard will get thicker.
12. While custard is cooling, whip 1-1/4 cups of cream, 1/8 cup sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form.
13. Place almond slices on a baking sheet and toast, in a 300⁰F oven; stirring frequently until golden, 6 to 10 minutes. Set aside.
14. Spread a thin layer of custard on the bottom of the bowl.
15. Put half of the cake cubes on top of the custard.
16. Top with a third of the raspberries.
17. Spread a third of the custard on top of the cake cubes.
18. Alternate and repeat with the remaining cake cubes and raspberries.
19. Top the trifle with the whipped cream.
20. Chill 2 to 3 hours before serving.
21. Use the remaining raspberries and a sprinkling of toasted almonds as a garnish on top of the trifle.

ChefSecret:  I prefer to assemble my trifles the day before and top them with whipped cream and garnishes just before serving. This is a great way to use stale cake—yellow, white or even chocolate cake. You can make your trifle completely authentic by soaking the cubes of cake in sherry or another fortified wine.
Covid-19 Quip of the Day: “I saw my neighbor Tammy out early this morning scraping the ‘my kid is a terrific student’ sticker off her mini-van. I guess this week’s home schooling didn’t go all that well.”
 
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