Prue Leith Is the ‘Queen’ of This Dessert — and It’s Nearly Easy

Prue Leith is best-known as a choose on The Nice British Baking Present, the place contestants make elaborate desserts like towering layer muffins and 3D “biscuit” sculptures. However Leith’s favourite dessert to make at residence is sort of easy in comparison with these show-stoppers — and requires no baking time in any respect. 

“Every time now we have leftover cake, biscuit or pastry of just about any kind, I flip it right into a trifle,” Leith writes in her newest cookbook, Life’s Too Quick to Stuff a Mushroom, which incorporates 5 recipes for the basic English dessert. 

In reality, Dame Leith calls herself the “queen of trifles.” 

A basic English trifle options layers of sponge cake soaked in sherry or one other fortified wine, custard cream, fruit, and a whipped cream topping. However you’ll be able to suppose past the English trifle template to make riffs like a Caramel-Pear-Cheesecake Trifle or Black Sesame Banana Cake Trifle. Right here’s how you can “trifle” absolutely anything. 

How you can make a trifle 

The fantastic thing about a trifle is that you just don’t really want a recipe, and it may be as easy or fancy as you need it to be. You may make every part from scratch, you’ll be able to lean solely on store-bought components, or you’ll be able to take a semi-homemade method. Say you’ve leftover cake layers — slice them into cubes and high with ready-made lemon curd or caramel sauce. Or you’ll be able to physician up store-bought pound cake with selfmade custard cream and recent fruit. 

Whether or not you’re utilizing selfmade or store-bought components, right here’s a tough system for this choose-your-own-adventure dessert. 

1. Begin with a big trifle dish or bowl. Should you don’t have a trifle dish, you should use a big mixing bowl, ideally glass to indicate off the layers inside. (When assembling, you’ll be able to line the components you need to exhibit across the fringe of the dish, similar to slices of jelly roll cake or recent fruit for a Combined-Fruit Trifle.)
2. Add a cake layer. This could possibly be the basic sponge cake, panettone, pound cake, brownies, stale croissants, or any base that can take in the flavors of the trifle. Slice the cake into cubes or strips and line on the underside of the dish. Leith likes so as to add an optionally available step of spreading the cake layer with one thing candy like orange marmalade, strawberry jam, and even Nutella.
3. Soak the cake layer in order for you. For an English-style trifle (or an Italian zuppa inglese), you’ll be able to soak or brush the cake layer with a liqueur or spirit. Sherry is the basic alternative for an English trifle, however it’s also possible to decide to make use of amaretto, brandy, rum, limoncello, or a non-alcoholic choice like a fruit syrup.
4. Add a creamy layer. This could possibly be custard, mousse, instantaneous pudding, and even recent whipped cream. (Be aware you can add a layer of cream underneath the primary cake layer when you favor.)
5. High with fruit or different mix-ins. Suppose sliced strawberries or bananas, toasted nuts, crushed-up candies, or crushed cookies like Oreos or gingersnaps. 
6. Repeat. Repeat layers till you get to the highest of the bowl, ending with the creamy layer or a layer of recent whipped cream.
7. Garnish. High off your masterpiece with extra recent fruit, crushed sweet, nuts, or crushed cookies.

Be at liberty to, um, trifle with this template based mostly on what you’ve obtainable and your favourite flavors. Nevertheless it seems, nobody goes to cross up a giant bowl of cake and cream!