Food - Drink
How Modern Trifles Differ From The Original Recipe
By ERICA MARTINEZ
Few desserts look as stately and elegant as a perfectly assembled trifle with its layers of cake, custard, and fruit. The dessert originated in Britain, where it has graced tables for hundreds of years, and while the dessert remains popular in Britain and around the world, today’s version is slightly different than the original dessert.
While modern trifles wouldn’t be the same without the addition of fruit, the first trifles in England and America didn’t feature fruit. The trifle originated as a way to use up leftover stale cake by soaking it in alcohol like sherry and then layering it with traditional custard or American additions like Jell-O and whipped cream, for a simple yet delicious dessert.
Along with fruit, modern trifles differ from their predecessors in that they often utilize fresh baked or store-bought cake rather than stale leftovers. Other than that, some modern trifle recipes might leave out the alcohol to make the dessert appropriate for all ages or streamline the preparation process by swapping in boxed pudding for homemade custard.