Sweet Course of Dinner
Trifle with Cream and Fruit
FestiveEvocation🍯 🍋moyen1 h (+ refrigeration)
A layered dessert in a large glass dish: sponge biscuits soaked in sweet wine, fruit, custard, and whipped cream. The sweet, fresh triumph of Victorian dinners.
Sweet Course of Dinner
A layered dessert in a large glass dish: sponge biscuits soaked in sweet wine, fruit, custard, and whipped cream. The sweet, fresh triumph of Victorian dinners.
Here is the dish for grand evenings, built in layers in a fine glass where each one dips with a spoon. One lines the bottom with biscuits moistened with a finger of sherry, arranges fruit, then a smooth custard, and over it a cloud of whipped cream. For my part, I took only a few spoonfuls — my condition demanded it — but I loved to see it appear: there is in these layered sweets a gaiety that learned conversation cannot replace.
Ingredients
- •Savoy biscuits or ladyfingers — a dozen (base)
- •Sherry wine — half a glass (soaking)
- •Fruit (raspberries, currants, or jam) — a good layer (tangy freshness)
- •Milk and egg yolks — a pint of milk, 4 yolks (custard)
- •Sugar — to taste (sweetness)
- •Whipped fresh cream — a bowl (crowning)
How it was made : The trifle, attested in England since the 16th century, was enriched in the 19th century with custard and took its modern layered form. Served in cut-glass bowls, it displayed the abundance of the Victorian table at receptions.
Sources : Hannah Glasse, The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy, 1747 · Isabella Beeton, Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, 1861