AIBU to think this is not trifle....

[fairydustallover]

Layer of jelly, layer of custard, layer of whipped cream, bits on top.

No sponge. No sherry. No fruit.

Now, just because you know that proper trifle should have jam rather than jelly doesn't make it right to not put jelly in it.

It'a like knowing that a tomato is a fruit and all that bollocks...

I think the defining layers of triffle are dunked sponge, custard and cream. Jelly and fruit are optional. The other layers are not. I like triffle with Jelly (and without)

It's

(Not drunk, honest)

God I want some now.
All I have are chocolate gingers and coffee ice cream.

Ooh birds trifle!

Ours is sponge, jelly and fruit cocktail. That's it :o
Obviously it would horrify the majority!
We pour birds custard and pouring cream over it as we serve it

Mrs Beeton?s Trifle

For the whip:
1 pint of cream
3oz sugar
2 egg whites
small glass sherry

For the trifle:
1 pint custard
6 small sponge cakes
12 macaroons
2 dozen ratafias
2oz sweet almonds
lemon rind
layer of jam
1/2 pint sherry
6 tbsp brandy

(Sufficient for 1 trifle)

1. The whip to lay over the top of the trifle should be made the day before it is required for the table, as the flavour is better and it is much more solid than when prepared the same day. Put into a large bowl the pounded sugar, the whites of the eggs, which should be beaten to a stiff froth, a glass of sherry or sweet wine, and the cream.

2. Whisk these ingredients well in a cool place, and take off the froth with a skimmer as fast as it rises, and put it on a sieve to drain; continue the whisking till there is sufficient of the whip, which must be put away in a cool place to drain.

3. The next day, place the sponge cakes, macaroons and ratafias at the bottom of a trifle dish; pour over them 1/2 pint of sherry or sweet wine, mixed with 6 tablespoons of brandy, and should this proportion of wine not be found quite sufficient, add a little more, as the cakes should be well soaked. Over the cakes put the grated lemon rind, the sweet almonds, blanched and cut into strips, and a layer of raspberry or strawberry jam.

4. Make a good custard using 8 eggs to the pint of milk, and let this cool a little; then pour it over the cakes etc. The whip being made the day previously, and the trifle prepared, there remains nothing to do now but heap the whip lightly over the top: this should stand as high as possible, and it may be garnished with strips of bright currant jelly, crystallised sweetmeats, or flowers; the small coloured comfits are sometimes used for the purpose of garnishing a trifle, but they are now considered rather old-fashioned.

Average cost, with cream at 1s. per pint, 5s. 6d. Seasonable at any time.

Recipe taken from Mrs Beeton?s Book of Household Management, first published in 1861.

Jelly, custard, cream and bits is school trifle. Real trifle is boozy sponge, custard fruit and cream.

Mine was frozen berries, chocolate sponge soaked in blackcurrent liquer, covered in home made chocolate custard, topped with whipped cream and crushed flake.

Yum! All gone, so I might need to make another.

Jelly is OK but not compulsory, but booze and fruit is compulsory so YANBU.

I've never ever had a trifle without jelly, all trifle must have jelly otherwise it's just cake and custard with cream.

How you make a trifle is one of those what/pardon class things.

I say what but make a dead common trifle.

trifle definitely doesn't have jelly in it .

There's nothing wrong with jelly and cream/custard but it isn't trifle.

Well I infused my custard with a vanilla pod. I also used M & S bottled jelly.

That makes me right posh, dunnit?

I make common trifle on purpose. Wouldn't be Christmas without.

This year it was homemade g-free sponge with complicated vegetarian jelly, tinned pears and peaches; then set custard (sliceable, not gloopy which is Wrong); then whipped cream; then decoration by DCs, namely handfuls of chocolate buttons and dolly mixtures thrown in the vague direction of the trifle.

But I got through the producers round of Great British Menu with my Scotch Trifle which involves chocolate, ginger, and um Scotch. No jelly or fruit in that.

I'd never experienced jelly in a trifle until I had christmas dinner at my MIL's! She insisted it was homemade, but turned out it was birds trifle, but its homemade as she had to do some stirring and whipping!

My mums trifle is seriously boozy, and filled with kiwi fruit and amaretto biscuits, yum!

My ideal trifle! No icky soggy sponge, no awful tinned fruit, just the essentials... yum!

I don't mind jelly in a trifle. But ORANGE? That's just wrong. It's got to be red jelly.

Trifle in our house has sponge fingers, strawberries, generous splash of sherry, custard, whipped cream and grated chocolate to finish

I make two versions, one is the traditional one (without jelly) and the other is a chocolate orange one:
Start with a layer of Jaffa cakes, soak in Cointreau
Add a layer of oranges segments (tinned are easiest!)
Then a layer of Delia's proper custard (the one with 6 egg yolks and a pint of cream)
Finally a layer of whipped cream
Not for those on a diet though!

No, there should be no jelly in a proper trifle. Trifle sponges sandwiched together with jam, moistened with fruit juice and/or sherry. Fruit over that, then a layer of custard then whipped cream on top.

I bet the use of jelly instead of fruit is a wartime thing. It's definitely a cheapo, school or ready-made version if it has jelly in it. In our family we make it the fruit way and it is gone in half an hour. I made one for inlaw Xmas gathering the other year and it was barely touched. Clearly I had broken the sacred "trifles must have jelly and not fruit" family rule!

Op, jelly, custard and cream in a bowl is just, well, jelly with custard and cream on top!!!!

Custard with skin on.
yum.

It needs sponge, but I hate trifle with fruit in and I hate sherry

Jelly isn't obligatory. Mil missed out the cream which was a bit disappointing!