Thursday February 3rd, 2022

Trifle is an English dessert traditionally made with sponge cake cut into cubes generally moistened with a sweet alcoholic beverage like a liqueur or green wine. We put it together with sweet cream made with milk and eggs (custard) and also fruits. We are going to prepare here a table grape trifle which is highly appreciated in several countries of the world, specially in Brazil.

Ingredients for the sponge cake
• 3 medium-sized eggs at room temperature
• 180 g of butter at room temperature (¾ of a cup)
• 180 g of sugar (a little less than 1 cup)
• 180 g of wheat flour (1 and ⅓ of a cup)
• 1 tablespoon of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1 or 2 tablespoons of hot water

Put into a baking pan and bake it for about 40 minutes. Remove it form oven, let it cool and remove it form the baking pan to cut it into cubes. And leave them aside.

In England, the original land of this recipe, it is common to drink Sherry, which is a sweet wine for dessert, made with white grapes.

But it is not only with sherry that you can moisten the sponge cake cubes for the trifle. Port wine, Madeira wine, Brandy, Cassis liqueur, Cointreau, Drambui or other liqueur of your preference can also be used.

If you do not want to use alcoholic beverage, use fruit juice to moisten the sponge cake cubes.

Ingredients for the cream
Custard is the name of the cream which is known outside of England as crème anglaise, or English cream for us Brazilians. It is a cream made wit milk and/or cream milk, egg yolks, sugar and vanilla.

In England, the custard is sold in supermarkets ready for consumption or as a premixture to be prepared at home.

How to prepare at home:
• 4 egg yolks
• 3 tablespoons of maize starch
• 3 cups (700ml) of milk
• ½ teaspoon of salt (optional)
• ½ cup (100g) of sugar
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• Vanilla essence

Note: Attention Brazilians, the ingredients cannot be replaced by condensed milk.

Grapes
Wash the fresh grapes and leave them aside.

Make a layer of moistened sponge cake, grapes, cream and grapes on top to decorate it. Let it rest in the fridge for, at least 2 hours, before serving.