This classic trifle recipe is made with layers of sponge cake, jelly, peaches and custard, with a hint of sweet sherry flavour in the sponge and impressive-looking whipped cream on top. Some people say it isn’t Christmas without a trifle for dessert, and as far as we’re concerned, it deserves to be the hero of this year’s festivities. Especially when you consider how easy this trifle recipe is – you can make it in the morning or even the day before serving to give yourself more time to enjoy the occasion.
Ingredients
Method
Make jelly according to directions on packet; pour into shallow container. Refrigerate 20 minutes or until jelly is almost set.
Arrange cake in 3-litre (12-cup) bowl; sprinkle over sherry.
Blend custard powder, sugar and extract with a little of the milk in small saucepan; stir in remaining milk. Stir over heat until mixture boils and thickens. Cover surface of custard with plastic wrap; cool.
Pour jelly over cake; refrigerate 15 minutes. Top with peaches. Stir 1/3 cup of the cream into custard; pour over peaches.
Whip remaining cream; spread half over custard. Spoon remaining whipped cream into piping bag fitted with large fluted tube; pipe over top of trifle. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight.
Serve trifle topped with maraschino cherries, if you like.
For a non-alcoholic version of this trifle, use fruit juice in place of the sherry. We recommend peach nectar or orange juice to complement the other flavours in the recipe. Â
Test Kitchen tip
What else can you put in trifle instead of sherry?
As well as using fruit juice instead of sherry for a non-alcoholic trifle, you could use brandy, Grand Marnier, Cointreau, orange liqueur or just about any other spirit or fortified wine that complements the flavours of the trifle. Some recipes even get more creative with wines, such as with our rosé and raspberry trifle or our Champagne and orange French macaron trifle.
Just keep in mind that the best trifle recipes will include ingredients that all work together to make it taste delicious (like the frangelico in Julie Goodwin’s chocolate trifle). So any substitutions could change the final result.
Will a trifle get soggy overnight?
If you make trifle the day before serving it, the sponge cake will absorb some moisture but shouldn’t get soggy until a few days after you have made it.
If you’re worried about sogginess, you could make the trifle on the day of serving, as long as you allow enough time for all the elements to set. For example, in this recipe, you need to refrigerate for at least three hours before serving.
Another option is to make some components ahead of time and then assemble them on the day.
How the trifle recipe can cause or help you avoid sogginess
The potential sogginess of your trifle can also depend on the recipe you’re following and the order of the layers. For example, if you have sponge cake then a fruit layer, moisture from the fruit could soak into the sponge more than if you had a jelly layer on top of the cake. And if you use biscuits, such as in our berry trifle, they may not absorb as much moisture.
It’s also important to pay attention to the jelly, custard or cream components in your trifle. If they are too ‘wet’ when you make the trifle, there’s more potential for it to go soggy faster.
Can you use ready made custard for trifle?
Unless the recipe calls for it, ready made custard from the supermarket won’t typically be the right consistency to include in a trifle. But you can use custard powder to save time on making it and also get the desired consistency for your trifle, as we have in this recipe.
This recipe was updated in October, 2024 to include details about the types of alcohol or juice used to flavour trifles. It was previously updated in September 2024 and December, 2023.
