Description
This classic Christmas Trifle recipe layers moist Madeira cake soaked in fruit-flavored liquor with sweet cranberry jelly, fresh berries, creamy custard, and softly whipped cream. It’s a festive, visually stunning dessert perfect for holiday gatherings, combining tart, sweet, and creamy flavors with a mix of textures from sponge cake to smooth custard and fresh fruit.
Ingredients
Scale
Cake and Soak
- 450g (14 oz) Madeira cake or Pound cake, store-bought
- 1/3 cup orange or other fruit flavoured liquor (like Cointreau), or apple, orange or other fruit juice, or 2 tbsp brandy
Cranberry Jelly
- 7 tsp gelatine powder
- 6 cups cranberry juice, original (with sugar added, not no added sugar)
Fruit
- 500 – 750g (1 – 1.5 lb) strawberries, halved
- 1 each punnet blueberries
- 1 each punnet raspberries
Cream Topping
- 2 1/2 cups heavy/thickened cream or pure whipping cream
- 3 tbsp white sugar (caster sugar works)
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Homemade Thick Custard (or Store-bought Alternative)
- 3 cups milk (full or low fat)
- 1/4 cup caster sugar (superfine sugar)
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
- 4 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup cornflour (cornstarch)
- Extra 1/4 cup caster sugar (superfine sugar)
Instructions
- Prepare Cake Base: Cut the cake into 2 cm (0.8″) cubes. Arrange the cubes to cover the bottom of a 3.5 L (3.5 qt) trifle dish. Sprinkle with the chosen fruit-flavored liquor or juice to soak the cake.
- Optional Fruit Layer: Scatter about half to one punnet of halved strawberries over the soaked cake for added fruitiness and texture.
- Heat Cranberry Juice: Pour half of the cranberry juice (3 cups/750ml) into a saucepan and heat over medium heat until it begins to simmer, then turn off the heat.
- Dissolve Gelatine: Place remaining room temperature cranberry juice in a large bowl and evenly sprinkle gelatine powder over the surface. Whisk to begin dissolving.
- Combine Juice with Gelatine: Pour the hot cranberry juice into the juice and gelatine mixture while whisking until the gelatine is fully dissolved without lumps.
- First Jelly Layer: Carefully pour half of the warm jelly along the side of the trifle dish to submerge the cake cubes. Refrigerate uncovered for 1 1/2 hours until the jelly is partly set but still soft enough to hold fruit on the surface.
- Prepare Remaining Jelly: Keep the second half of the warm jelly in a bowl at room temperature; do not refrigerate.
- Make Custard: Prepare the custard as outlined. Once ready, whisk it to loosen the texture and set aside.
- Custard Layer: Remove trifle from fridge, spoon the room temperature custard over the set jelly layer, smoothing the surface and pressing the custard against the glass sides to prevent jelly bleed. Refrigerate uncovered for 1 hour until the custard surface firms slightly.
- Set Remaining Jelly Partially: Whisk the remaining jelly thoroughly and refrigerate for about 1 hour until it thickens but remains spoonable (sloppy texture), checking at 30 minutes to prevent full setting.
- Second Jelly Layer: Remove trifle and jelly from fridge; gently spoon the partially set jelly over the custard layer. Scatter over one punnet of halved strawberries, or half raspberries and half strawberries. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or up to 48 hours.
- Whip Cream: Beat the cream with sugar and vanilla until softly whipped peaks form.
- Assemble Final Layers: Just before serving, top the trifle with the whipped cream and then pile the remaining fresh berries on top. Dust with icing sugar for garnish.
- Serve: Serve ensuring each portion includes layers of cake, jelly, custard, cream, and fruit for a balanced and festive dessert experience.
- Homemade Custard Preparation: Bring milk, ¼ cup sugar, and vanilla to a simmer over medium heat without boiling. Meanwhile, whisk remaining ¼ cup sugar with egg yolks and cornflour until smooth. Slowly blend in some hot milk mixture, then combine back into the saucepan. Cook over low heat, whisking constantly for about 45 seconds until thickened. Remove from heat, cover with cling wrap pressing onto the surface, and cool to room temperature before layering.
Notes
- Cake: Pound or Madeira cakes are ideal, but any sponge or vanilla cake works well. Christmas Cake is also a good alternative though darker in color.
- Gelatine: Use plain gelatine powder such as McKenzie’s (Australia), Knox (US), or Dr Oetker (UK). Cranberry juice must have sugar added (e.g., Ocean Spray Cranberry Classic) for proper sweetness. If using unsweetened juice, add 1/2 cup white sugar when heating the juice.
- Custard: Store-bought double-thick vanilla custard is a time saver and works well if you prefer convenience. Add vanilla extract to freshen it up.
- Vanilla Bean Paste: Optional but adds authentic vanilla flavor with tiny black specks.
- Jelly Layers: Pour the first jelly layer while still liquid for a smooth set surface. The second jelly layer must be spooned on partially set jelly to avoid breaking custard layer and prevent jelly bleed.
- Custard Texture: The custard should be mostly cooled but still spoonable before layering. If it firms too much, whisk vigorously to loosen before adding.
- Leftover Egg Whites: Save leftover egg whites from the custard for other recipes like meringues or pavlovas.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice (approx. 1/10 of trifle)
- Calories: 350
- Sugar: 30g
- Sodium: 80mg
- Fat: 18g
- Saturated Fat: 10g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 38g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 5g
- Cholesterol: 110mg
