🍮 Trifle
Trifle is a British layered dessert built in a glass bowl: sponge cake splashed with sherry, fruit set in jelly, a thick layer of custard and a crown of whipped cream. Each spoonful mixes soft, boozy cake with wobbly fruit jelly and smooth, creamy custard. It is a classic at Christmas and family gatherings, served chilled from the bowl.
Diets
Allergens
Contains (in a typical recipe):
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 250 g sponge cake
- 80 ml sherry
- 1 packet fruit jelly (about 135 g), made with 500 ml water
- 300 g mixed berries or sliced fruit
- 500 ml custard
- 300 ml cream, whipped
- 1 tbsp sugar
Method
- Cut the sponge into slices and lay them in the bottom of a glass bowl.
- Sprinkle the sherry over the sponge and scatter over half the fruit.
- Make the jelly as directed, pour it over the fruit and chill until set.
- Spread the custard over the set jelly.
- Whip the cream with the sugar, spread it on top, decorate with the rest of the fruit and chill before serving.
How to make it lighter
- Serve in small glasses of about 120 g rather than scooping from a large bowl.
- Use more fruit and a thinner sponge layer to lower the energy density.
- Make the cream layer thin or replace part of it with extra fruit.
History
Recipes called trifle appear in English cookbooks from the late 16th century, at first as a thickened sweet cream. Over the following centuries, soaked cake, custard and later jelly were added, giving the layered dessert known today.
Count it in one photo
Point your camera at the table — Me Nutrition recognises Trifle and every other dish, with calories and macros for each. Ate only half? Slide it.
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →