Trifle
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A trifle is a dessert dish made from thick (or often solidified) custard, fruit, sponge cake, fruit juice or, more recently, jelly (gelatin), and whipped cream. These ingredients are usually arranged in layers with fruit and sponge on the bottom, and custard and cream on top.
Some trifles contain a small amount of alcohol such as port, or, most commonly, sweet sherry or madeira wine. Non-alcoholic versions use fruit juice instead, as the liquid is necessary to moisten the cake. Trifle containing sherry is sometimes called 'sherry trifle' or referred to as being 'High Church'.
One popular trifle variant has the sponges soaked in jelly (liquid-gelatin dessert) when the trifle is made, which sets when refrigerated. The cake and jelly bind together and produce a uniquely pleasant texture if made in the correct proportions (there should not be too much jelly added, or nucleation will not occur).
Some supermarkets sell 'chocolate trifle' which is not really trifle at all. A trifle cannot be composed of chocolate layers as it must contain fruit.
A trifle is often used for decoration as well as taste, incorporating the bright, layered colours of the fruit, jelly, jam, and the contrast of the creamy yellow custard and white cream.
Trifles are often served at Christmas time, sometimes as a lighter alternative to the much denser Christmas pudding.
A Creole trifle (also sometimes known as a 'Russian cake') is a different but related dessert item consisting of pieces of a variety of cakes mixed together and packed firmly, moistened with alcohol (commonly red wine or rum) and a sweet syrup or fruit juice, and chilled. The resulting cake contains a whirlpool of colour and flavour. Bakeries in New Orleans have been known to produce such cakes out of their leftover or imperfect baked goods.
In Italy, a dessert similar to trifle is known as zuppa inglese.
