Making a trifle

[SaligoBay]

Delia says that traditional trifles don't have jelly in them, do you agree, is a trifle just as good without?

My other questions are:

- no sherry in, what alcohol would you recommend to soak the sponge in?

- no sponge things, will those langues de chats or boudoirs do?

I intend to use a couple of tins of custard.  My stress levels will be high enough without messing around with eggs! 

p.s. this has to impress a dozen French women, all of whom are (ça va sans dire!) fearsomely handy in the kitchen.

 

[Millymollymandy]

I don't believe that trifle should have jelly in it. I've never seen a recipe include this. The only person to my knowledge who puts jelly in is my mother in law! (and it's dire!!!).

I expect those French sponge fingers would have the same effect.

[graham34]

I would have thought muscat would be an appropriate local alternative to sherry.

Langues de chats should be fine, especially if you can find some that go easy on the stiff sugar coating (or you cut/scrape some of it off)

Graham

 

[Janey]

SB, I think trifles should have jelly in them, not a lot, just enough to cover the sponge and some of the fruit. The boudoir bicuits are perfect, the sugar dissolves and you could try cointreau(not sure about spelling) instead of sherry .

Bonne chance

Janey

[opas]

You have all got me confused now! I shall have to do some research into this serious matter.

If a triffle doesn`t have jelly in ,then what do you put in it?confused:

You have reminded me that I have 3 packs of jelly hidden away....could come in handy over christmas/new year

We bought some alcohol with pinaple chunks in it in spain a few years ago and used just the fruit in the jelly, it was out of this world to eat.....searched for more on the next visit but neverfound it again mrs O

[Alexis]

All my trifles have jelly in them.  Make them for OH.  Now got him converted to tinned custard too.  Shame I have run out!

Use the SOFT boudoir biscuits.  à cuillers.  Can use quart quart or those soft fairy bun style madelines.

Muscat should work but have you thought of whisky?  Then they won't remember if the trifle was nice or not......

A trifle is the only thing I make which requires stuff bringing over...jelly, manderin segments and tinned custard.  Add suet and golden syrup and you have my shopping list.  Both the first and the last two are now available at a new shop that has opened.

Won't stop me going to Jersey on the 22nd though.  Going to get a bit of proper British Christmas spirit.  Possibly a nice piece of gammon too ... until I read the price!

BOOKS.  books.   BoOks.  Will be dipping in and feeling them....

[Russethouse]

No, no ,no - there is NO jelly in a trifle !!!

The bags of little fairy type cakes split in two should be fine, marsala should do the job ( I have used pineau too), then a good layer of fruit, same of custard and lots of cream, topped with toasted flaked almonds, possibly glace cherries - not 100's and thousands please!!!

[SaligoBay]

Thank you, everyone.  My mind is made up - this trifle will have no jelly in it.   One less thing to go wrong! 

Cointreau sounds good, I think Muscat might be a bit sweet.

LeClerc here I come......

[Dick Smith]

Trifle with jelly in it has jelly in it. It isn't a rule or natural law...

Have a look at this recipe:

http://www.kraftfoods.com/recipes/CookiesCandyOtherDesserts/MousseTriffles/NeopolitanTrifle.html

Of course if we were discussing a native dish in Burgundy there would be a Brotherhood of The Trifle and we could ask them.

[Val_2]

Well I was brought up with jelly in trifle and I always use it here as our french friends love it. Swiss roll is good for the base(not the cream ones) with sherry or similar soaked in overnight and then a layer of red jam too. I think trifle is one of those recipes which everyone tends to customise to their own liking. I use cooled powdered Birds Custard made up and then put through a mesh to get rid of all lumps.

[GRT17]

S.B.

I am with Gay on this answer, definitely no jelly in trifle for me. To soak the sponge base you could use a mixture of orange juice and Grand Marnier or similar tipple. Tinned custard is definitely a time saver and a useful item to have in the store cupboard.

Agree with Val that everyone will have their own variation on the traditional trifle recipe.

Good luck

Do let us know how it turns out.

Gill

[Alexis]

Are you giving them beans on toast for le plat?  Spagetti hoops?

Believe me if they are like OH they will wolf it down.  Forgot until now but the British tradition of eating jelly is looked on as very excentric here.  All the world travellers around here seem to have been to London and had jelly and custard......

Mind, they don't eat hot desserts either.  AND they serve the creme anglais cold! 

I sometimes wonder why we stay!  Must be the missionary spirit

[Val_2]

Alexis I work with two Belgian ladies and they just cannot understand the French passion for certain "compulsory" foods and the lack of really good puddings. They are both married to Bretons and get fed up of always meat/fish and two veg and buckets of spuds with everything, never anything adventurous like curry or oriental food and as for deserts,everything seems to revolve round either tasteless apples or flan which to me is like eating your bath sponge. They both ate jelly and ice cream before and would love to be able to get it here,so would I for that matter instead of getting friends to bring it from the UK.

[Millymollymandy]

Val, I would have thought that your bath sponge would be a lot softer and more appetising than the average tart made with pate brisee. I bought this stuff recently (1st time) from the supermarket. Great, I thought, it's even rolled out for me in the appropriate shape! But cooked, it was the same hard tasteless, need a steak knife to get thru it, excuse for pastry as most of what I've found around here.

I have a fabulous recipe for Ginger Pear Trifle. The only problem is that you need Jamaican ginger cake (although if you can get hold of any kind of spicy cake of the Dutch/Belgian kind it works well too). The pears (fresh) are cooked in cider and a bit of sugar until soft, then poured over sliced ginger cake. Topped with cooled custard, whipped cream and sprinkled with almonds. Makes a really nice change from the usual sherry trifle.

[Gwenhwyfar]

From what I've read in recipe books 'traditional' trifle doesn't have jelly in it but as has been said it's down to personal taste and recipes evolve over time anyway.

I use sponge cake (no fat recipe works best), boudoir biscuits or similar work fine, spread them with jam, I'd add crushed macaroons (or ginger biscuits).

You can soak with sherry, port, sweet white wine etc. or like mentioned cointreau etc. will taste good.

Top with custard, whipped cream, toasted flaked almonds and grated chocolate.

On the other hand if I was in a hurry I bought the Asda packet trifle mixes, cheap and always acceptable I hadn't realised you couldn't get jelly here!

Blimey, I'm hungry after writing that and I only just finished my lunch ...

[SaligoBay]

In the end, I made 2, one with jelly, one without.  I think the jelly definitely adds a bit of body to it.

TOH loves it, not sure what the 14 French wimmin made of it.  They did ask what was in it, but I suspect more from suspicion than "I really want the recipe".   

One of them said "It's a Charlotte then".  Dunno, mate, never made a Charlotte!

It did get them talking about the famous English puddings, although they seemed a bit confused, and thought that all puddings have to be made 2 months in advance.

So, to take their minds off this odd slop that I'd just fed them, I told them I still had the top layer of my wedding cake - 12 years on.   The clash of jaws dropping all round the room probably registered on the Richter scale.  Had to come home and get it to show them, along with wedding photos with said cake in.  Oh dear oh dear oh dear.

The conversation then moved on to the pasteur/curé's underwear, but that wouldn't be suitable for the Food&Drink section. 

SB, confirming the French belief that them lot over the Channel can't cook.    Sorry, everyone!

p.s. you can buy jelly in France, depending on where you are.  When we arrived 4 years ago, I got people to bring it over, but now I have at least 2 sources here, one is the flash new HyperU.   More expensive than UK, but we don't eat it often, so it's not such a problem.   

 

 

 

[Kaf]

Hi

All I can say is that Delia's traditional trifle recipe is our traditional Boxing Day dessert, and I've never had any complaints!!

Karen

[bizzer]

Hi Guys

If I am making a fruit trifle I put Jelly in it but, if I am making an alcoholic trifle I leave the jelly out... Grand Marnier is fab in a trifle ..just soak the sponge fingers or swiss roll or madelaines add some raspberry jam or a thick raspberry coulis top with a smooth lumpless custard --put on whilst still hot then it sets smoothly allow to cool in the fridge and top with some delicious chantilly cream (vanilla flavoured cream) and decorate as required with Orange segments (tinned),Angelica and some grated chocolate.

hope this helps

[Mistral]

SB you're a brave woman serving something containing jelly to French people over the age of 11 (in my experience under 11 they love it because it is sweet, wobbly, brightly coloured. Over 11 they hate it for the same reasons) Most the French people I know can't actually cook desserts or cakes or they only have one standard recipe that they do every time. Of course it is a bit limiting if you only ever make cold desserts. I still haven't managed to convert my French entourage to hot puddings unless it's a fruit crumble. Most French recipe books say to serve it tied or cold but the other day I served a hot apple crumble (made with mixed spice too) and the bowl was scraped clean.

My sister in law and mother in law (in fact the whole family) make charlotte. It seems to be boudoirs soaked in something (probably fruit syrup) and the put in a "jelly mold" then you fill the rest with a cream and fruit mix and leave to marinate. The you turn it out and hope it doesn't disintegrate. Depending on how it's made it can be light and refreshing or sweet and soggy.

My pupils used to go about how they didn't like "English pudding" and it took me a while to work out that they were talking about a specific dish which is made with bits of old cakes all mixed together with raisins in. It's a bit like not very nice (or tasty) bread pudding. They didn't realise that every dessert can be a pudding.

[Tourangelle]

oh it is so annoying when French people do that.  Trifle is nothing like a charlotte (although they are both nice).  Custard makes all the difference.  My mother-in-law does that all the time.  Shepherd's pie, "oh c'est du boeuf parmentier", stilton cheese "oh c'est du Saint Agur".  Well no actually, I say politely every single time, nothing like and we do have things in England that are nice and yet unknown in France.  Sorry, bit of rant.  Drives me up the wall.

[Mistral]

Jane, I'm glad it's not just my in-laws.  I finally came to the realisation that people try to understand things by relating them to things they already understand. But I really felt that if my in-laws couldn't find a French version of something then it automatically had to be bad and undesirable (probably because they had trouble accepting that France doesn't have everything, anything you don't have in france isn't worth the effort  ) 

The moment I realised I was never going to win was when I was making nasi goreng. In came mother in law "oh, paella" she said. I explained (at length) what it was. In came father in law; "Look" says MIL "she's making Chinese paella"

 

[Jill<br><br>Jill (99)]

I can't say I've come across any really good traditional French desserts either. I usually go for the Creme Brulee or Creme Catalan in restaurants. I had a very nice dessert in a restaurant this year, but it was nouvelle cuisine - hardly traditional. I always think the stuff in patisseries looks really sickly and I always wonder who eats it, because I've never known any of our French friends buy that sort of stuff except one who served a few eclairs and such like for gouter. The only desserts French friends have ever cooked have been the apple tartes and apple cakes - otherwise they always serve fruit. I did receive an excellent recipe from one of you last year for tarte aux poires et amandes last year, which may be brought out for the Soiree amicale on Friday (Alliance Francaise).

With regard to trifle - I've never seen it without jelly either. Personally, I can't bear it, so that tends to be my husbands department. He doesn't like sherry in it, and my Mum does, so she used to bring a sherry one with her at New Year. He also does it his Mum's way which is to use blancmange instead of custard. Have any of you ever had it that way? Can you get blancmange in France? I suppose it would be a mix for Ile Flottante. Not that I would ever want to make it - I don't like blancmange either. When I was a child, I could never understand the cheering when the jelly and ice cream came out at parties either.

Both French and Italian friends have taken back jelly and blancmange though! I'd rather have tiramisu any day!

[moon]

Dont use a jelly in the conventional sense but as a replacement for the custard. Make up jelly with half the liquid specified and make up to full amount with evaporated milk. Whip it as it cools and you have a wonderful custard substitute, lime jelly is particularily wonderful for this.

Bob

[Russethouse]

Widnesbob, you can make a terrific light mousse like that, we used to use raspberry flavour jelly plus add a small tin of strained raspberries to the mix - use the juice in the jelly....

Jill, yuk blancmange.......

I love those french pastries or patiserrie items, not so keen on ordinary cake but they could be my dieting downfall !

(Its OK if I don't have any, but once I start eating them I can't stop )

[Millymollymandy]

Tin of Carnation milk, pkt jelly and a tin of fruit = Flummery. At least that's what we called it but I'm not sure if it is the traditional flummery. Haven't made it for years as I've lost the recipe but it was delicious and easy!  I hate jelly but love it "raw".

Talking of French puds, what about Far Breton? I make that and it's wonderful. And Quatre Quarts aux Pommes.