Prue Leith Is the ‘Queen’ of This Dessert — and It’s Virtually Easy

Prue Leith is best-known as a decide on The Nice British Baking Present, the place contestants make elaborate desserts like towering layer desserts and 3D “biscuit” sculptures. However Leith’s favourite dessert to make at dwelling is kind of easy in comparison with these show-stoppers — and requires no baking time in any respect. 

“Every time we have now leftover cake, biscuit or pastry of virtually any kind, I flip it right into a trifle,” Leith writes in her newest cookbook, Life’s Too Quick to Stuff a Mushroom, which incorporates 5 recipes for the basic English dessert. 

Actually, Dame Leith calls herself the “queen of trifles.” 

A basic English trifle options layers of sponge cake soaked in sherry or one other fortified wine, custard cream, fruit, and a whipped cream topping. However you’ll be able to assume past the English trifle template to make riffs like a Caramel-Pear-Cheesecake Trifle or Black Sesame Banana Cake Trifle. Right here’s the right way to “trifle” absolutely anything. 

Methods to make a trifle 

The fantastic thing about a trifle is that you simply don’t really want a recipe, and it may be as easy or fancy as you need it to be. You may make all the pieces from scratch, you’ll be able to lean solely on store-bought components, or you’ll be able to take a semi-homemade method. Say you could have leftover cake layers — slice them into cubes and high with ready-made lemon curd or caramel sauce. Or you’ll be able to physician up store-bought pound cake with do-it-yourself custard cream and contemporary fruit. 

Whether or not you’re utilizing do-it-yourself or store-bought components, right here’s a tough components for this choose-your-own-adventure dessert. 

1. Begin with a big trifle dish or bowl. Should you don’t have a trifle dish, you should utilize a big mixing bowl, ideally glass to indicate off the layers inside. (When assembling, you’ll be able to line the components you wish to showcase across the fringe of the dish, reminiscent of slices of jelly roll cake or contemporary fruit for a Blended-Fruit Trifle.)
2. Add a cake layer. This might be the basic sponge cake, panettone, pound cake, brownies, stale croissants, or any base that can absorb the flavors of the trifle. Slice the cake into cubes or strips and line on the underside of the dish. Leith likes so as to add an optionally available step of spreading the cake layer with one thing candy like orange marmalade, strawberry jam, and even Nutella.
3. Soak the cake layer in order for you. For an English-style trifle (or an Italian zuppa inglese), you’ll be able to soak or brush the cake layer with a liqueur or spirit. Sherry is the basic alternative for an English trifle, however you can even choose to make use of amaretto, brandy, rum, limoncello, or a non-alcoholic choice like a fruit syrup.
4. Add a creamy layer. This might be custard, mousse, immediate pudding, and even contemporary whipped cream. (Observe which you can add a layer of cream underneath the primary cake layer should you desire.)
5. High with fruit or different mix-ins. Suppose sliced strawberries or bananas, toasted nuts, crushed-up candies, or crushed cookies like Oreos or gingersnaps. 
6. Repeat. Repeat layers till you get to the highest of the bowl, ending with the creamy layer or a layer of contemporary whipped cream.
7. Garnish. High off your masterpiece with extra contemporary fruit, crushed sweet, nuts, or crushed cookies.

Be happy to, um, trifle with this template based mostly on what you could have obtainable and your favourite flavors. Nonetheless it seems, nobody goes to go up a giant bowl of cake and cream!