Trifle Recipes For Every Season

If your only previous exposure to the dessert known as trifle is the hilarious “Friends” episode, you are in for a treat. While you can make a traditional English trifle (as Rachel attempted to do on “Friends”), you can also get creative with your favorite or seasonal ingredients. In fact, those seasonal ingredients are why trifle is such a delicious dessert option all year long

Trifle may sound stuffy or formal, but as you’ll see, this versatile dessert can be as traditional or unconventional as you like. We hope this post will inspire you to create and enjoy trifle in every season.

Centuries of Trifle

As we learned more about trifle, we were struck by how similar it is to  desperation pie. Trifle began as a way to use leftover or stale cake. Other traditional trifle ingredients like custard and cream were readily available no matter what time of year it was, and of course wine or liqueurs were on hand too. Some of the oldest trifle recipes make no mention of fruit other than the inclusion of currant jelly in the trifle layers.

We were also amused by how determined some sources could be about the “right” way to make trifle, and how other sources, such as this article from the  Daily Mail, insisted that trifle has always been a free-for-all in terms of ingredients. It’s meant for Christmas celebrations, though the Daily Mail acknowledges that trifle is appropriate on any occasion.

On the other hand, this piece on  NDTV.com about the do’s and don’ts of trifle is worth reading, for more than mere entertainment value. There are some strong opinions voiced here about jelly (no), cream (must be the real stuff), fruit (sweet or tart, but nothing bland), and even the serving dish (glass not necessary), among other trifle-related details. But the objective is to achieve a balance between minimizing effort and maximizing enjoyment. As the author notes, “Come on, people, it's Christmas, let's do this properly.”

Whether you’re making trifle for Christmas, Thanksgiving, Mother’s Day, or simply because it’s the weekend, we have to agree that it’s worth doing properly. Let’s get started.

Traditional English Trifle

Though we learned that trifle has always been subject to experimentation, there are certainly some recognizable standard ingredients. We settled on this recipe from  The Spruce because it hit all the marks, and the ingredient measurements are in both metric and imperial form. Metric measurements offer English credibility, but imperial measurements are more comfortable for many home cooks.

Do be aware that when this recipe refers to “jelly,” it’s not the kind that comes in a glass jar and goes well with peanut butter. In British English, jelly is gelatin or Jell-O. Though  NDTV.com insists on eliminating jelly from trifle, The Spruce notes that jelly is a good option for a child-friendly trifle, along with leaving out the sherry.

You can make  custard sauce from scratch, or you can buy it in canned or powdered form. We found both varieties at Cost Plus World Market and Walmart. Likewise, you can make a sponge cake or pound cake, or you can buy one. But we agree the whipped cream should be real cream. Because the recipe calls for it to be softly whipped, you can get out the whisk instead of the stand mixer, or try putting cream in a Mason jar and shaking it vigorously.

Trifle Recipes For Every Taste

As good as traditional English trifle can be, we’re all in favor of broadening our dessert horizons. Because trifle is so easily customizable, we weren’t surprised to find a huge variety of recipes. Thanks to these extensive collections from  Delish and Good Housekeeping, we have enough trifle temptations to keep us in the kitchen through Christmas and beyond.

These assortments includes recipes that feature gingerbread for Christmas, pumpkin for Thanksgiving, fresh seasonal fruit for summer, and perennial favorites like chocolate, butterscotch, red velvet, and chocolate chip cookies for any time of year.

DIY Trifle: Make It Up As You Go

Ready to try putting together your own trifle flavor combinations? This post from  Food52 walks you through the steps and gives you permission to get as creative as you like. Instead of custard sauce, try dulce de leche. Replace the sponge cake with vanilla wafers. Crumble graham crackers on top instead of toasted almonds. Don’t settle for a single layer of each ingredient; keep adding layers until your bowl is full or your ingredients are gone. Then scoop individual servings into bowls and enjoy the results.