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Original poster

The trifle recipe of your childhood....

94 replies

ImFree2doasiwant · 29/12/2020 21:37

I dobt mean The fancy one you do now, I mean the one your nan made at Christmas in 1982.

Ours -
Trifle sponges soaked in sherry laced fruit juice (from the tinned fruit) placed into the bowl, and around the edge

Tinned fruit on top.
Strawberry jelly (made with less water than normal) on top of that, to soak into the fruit and sponge .
Once that's set, custard. Then whipped cream. Hundreds and thousands on top with some jelly diamond's if you're feeling extravagant.

I know, I know, jelly has no place in a Trifle.

Share yours, and how does it differ these days?

OP posts:
YesPleaseMary · 29/12/2020 22:03

Oh yes, Angel Delight!!!

My grandpa made the best trifle. Swiss roll or Madeira cake, tinned peaches, Angel Delight, a shedload of whipped cream and hundreds and thousands on the half that didn’t have Sherry in, except he often got it wrong so we’d get a mouthful of booze.
Good times.

AdaColeman · 29/12/2020 22:04

Our family recipe was an M&S jam Swiss roll, sliced and liberally soaked in sweet sherry or a fruit liqueur, then a tin of raspberries drained and layered, then a raspberry jelly made with the raspberry juice, poured carefully onto the fruit.

That was left to set, then topped with a layer of custard, again left to set, then finally large spoons of double cream added in an artistic fashion, and garnished with some of the raspberries.

It was a work of art really, and no trifle I've had since has surpassed it in trifle deliciousness!

NannyR · 29/12/2020 22:05

Ours was (and still is!) a jam Swiss roll, sliced up in the bottom of the dish, sherry and a tin of drained fruit cocktail, red jelly, made with the fruit cocktail juice, poured on top, let that set, then custard made with birds custard powder on top of that and let that set too, top with whipped cream and a crumbled up Cadbury flake.

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General food
cherrypie790 · 29/12/2020 22:05

My Nan made Birds Trifle out of a box. It had dream topping in, custard powder, jelly cubes, and dehydrated sponge squares. Nan used to add tinned raspberries for an exotic touch. Twas grim in hindsight.

Nothing like my white chocolate and raspberry christmas one I make with tons of berries soaked in kirsch Grin

justgeton · 29/12/2020 22:05

@ImFree2doasiwant

I dobt mean The fancy one you do now, I mean the one your nan made at Christmas in 1982.

Ours -
Trifle sponges soaked in sherry laced fruit juice (from the tinned fruit) placed into the bowl, and around the edge

Tinned fruit on top.
Strawberry jelly (made with less water than normal) on top of that, to soak into the fruit and sponge .
Once that's set, custard. Then whipped cream. Hundreds and thousands on top with some jelly diamond's if you're feeling extravagant.

I know, I know, jelly has no place in a Trifle.

Share yours, and how does it differ these days?

Are we related?

Sipperskipper · 29/12/2020 22:05

I bloody love trifle. Cant bear alcohol in it though. My recipe as an adult is raspberry Swiss roll at the bottom / edge, then strawberries in jelly, then homemade custard, then whipped cream with a flake sprinkled on. Its similar to the one I remember from childhood Christmases, but that definitely had a layer of something strawberry ish on top of the custard - blancmange maybe? Angel delight? Any guesses?

inappropriateraspberry · 29/12/2020 22:07

Nothing. All the elements mentioned above are lovely in their own, put combined in a trifle is disgusting! Too sweet and sickly for me. I'd rather have a packet of crisps!
My mum never made it when I was a child, and I don't think any of my siblings are fans of it now!

CanIGoHomeNowPlease · 29/12/2020 22:08

@Sipperskipper

I bloody love trifle. Cant bear alcohol in it though. My recipe as an adult is raspberry Swiss roll at the bottom / edge, then strawberries in jelly, then homemade custard, then whipped cream with a flake sprinkled on. Its similar to the one I remember from childhood Christmases, but that definitely had a layer of something strawberry ish on top of the custard - blancmange maybe? Angel delight? Any guesses?
Absolutely strawberry Angel Delight!!
Hohofortherobbers · 29/12/2020 22:15

I made one this year for the first time ever, I remember birds trifle with sherry as a girl. But my jelly did not set. I put frozen raspberries in on top of the sherry soaked sponge but the jelly refused to set overnight, what did I do wrong?

divafever99 · 29/12/2020 22:15

Same recipe as you back then, and now! Love trifle. We have crumbled flake on the top though!

FleeceNavidadToEwe · 29/12/2020 22:16

Mine was (and is):

Sponge fingers or sponges
Soaked in sweet Sherry
Frozen raspberries
Raspberry jelly
Custard (was Birds, now fresh)
Whipped double cream
Flake or hundreds and thousands

I have Dream Topping on standby - yeah or nay?

DahliaMacNamara · 29/12/2020 22:17

We were strictly a Birds family, with the occasional addition of tinned fruit for a fancy touch. The only wonder is that a single box was enough for five of us, though I suppose I could say the same for any seventies food.

Hohofortherobbers · 29/12/2020 22:17

Oh and my granny put angelica on top of ours, can you even buy angelica anymore, what even was it? I remember my granny's pot of it, it seemed to be the same pot of angelica for my entire childhood!

FleeceNavidadToEwe · 29/12/2020 22:17

@Hohofortherobbers

I made one this year for the first time ever, I remember birds trifle with sherry as a girl. But my jelly did not set. I put frozen raspberries in on top of the sherry soaked sponge but the jelly refused to set overnight, what did I do wrong?
Too much liquid in the jelly - make it up to 3/4 pint not the full pint.
Violetroselily · 29/12/2020 22:20

Swiss roll slices doused with sherry
Jelly
Custard
Cream
Grated chocolate on top

KizzyWayfarer · 29/12/2020 22:23

Pretty much your recipe, and making the Christmas trifle was a cherished childhood memory for me. But on top it was decorated with glacé cherries and candied angelica which I haven’t seen since then.

Tinkerbellflowers · 29/12/2020 22:25

In the 1980s we had trifle with pink blancmange instead of custard. And sometimes we had a black forest trifle with slices of chocolate swissroll, tinned cherries, blackcurrant jelly, and chocolate blancmange.

Wincarnis · 29/12/2020 22:26

Jam Swiss roll (or slices of home made Victoria sponge)
Fruit - tinned peaches or mandarins, if we were having visitors it would be fruit cocktail or a banana
Sherry only at Christmas or if there were visitors
Jelly - always red
Custard (made with custard powder)
Whipped cream
No decoration unless there were visitors, then it was a single glacé cherry and some grated chocolate

Letsnotargue · 29/12/2020 22:27

Mandarins in raspberry jelly on the bottom. Sliced Swiss roll on top of the set jelly as I hate soggy Swiss roll. Home made custard, then whipped cream. Hundreds and thousands. Delicious.

toycat · 29/12/2020 22:27

We always had trifle not Christmas pudding in Derry.

Layer of trifle sponges (covered in jam to help stick to bottom of bowl) soaked in sherry, and layer of canned fruit cocktail. Repeat till you run out of both. Fill bowl with liquid fruit jelly. Cool then cover in canned custard. Keep in fridge, serve with single cream

polkadotpjs · 29/12/2020 22:27

My MIL makes one with a specific jam roll - Bells and then jelly- no fruit (weird DH and his siblings and father don't like fruit), custard, cream, nothing else. It's bloody delicious as there's so much cake but no Sherry
My mum's is similar but trifle sponges and fruit cocktail with Sherry, tinned custard, cream and sprinkles

Phlip · 29/12/2020 22:29

Trifle was the highlight of Christmas food when I was a child in the 60s.
I too have my late grandmother's cut glass trifle bowl.

Crankley · 29/12/2020 22:32

My DM's 1950's trifle:

Trifle sponge soaked in (a little) sherry
tinned fruit
Jelly
Birds custard
whipped cream topped with toasted almonds.

iknowimcoming · 29/12/2020 22:34

My family's was always the birds box trifle with the dream topping on top. My mils is legendary however, always presented in a crufts trophy bowl (sponsored by pedigree chum and fondly nicknamed the chum bowl, procured no doubt from a car boot/jumble sale since mil has never been to crufts Grin). The trifle is always billed as handmade from scratch and is Sherry soaked sponge, tinned and fresh fruit mixed together (bleurgh) then 2 cartons of shop bought bright yellow custard poured over, then decorated with about six blobs of over-whipped badly piped cream and a liberal sprinkling of .......... golden sultanas - nope no idea why! COVID 19 is shit but it has spared us from this precious gift this Christmas Xmas Wink

fitflopqueen · 29/12/2020 22:38

My mum still makes the trifle the same way from when we were kids, usually a Boxing day dessert and we have missed it this year.
Trifle sponges - soaked with some tinned fruit juice and rowntrees jelly - used to love stirring the cubes to melt, then the fruit - usually 2 tins of strawberries. (save some jelly to decorate)
Birds custard made up from the tin.
Fresh whipped cream on top and some of the reserved jelly scattered in small groups. No alcohol and I still dislike booze in puddings generally.

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