Raspberry Trifle

I think with this recipe it confirms that I am not a real foodie – at most I am a tourist foodie. Sometimes I go all out with expensive ingredients and do everything from scratch, but the reality is, that is exhausting to pull off every day.  A real foodie would make trifle with ‘from scratch’ custard with farm fresh eggs, homemade pound cake (or at least some $10 cake from a patisserie) artisan jam and fresh raspberries. My recipe has Jello and Bird’s Custard Powder because that is how my mom makes it. I really don’t recommend substituting vanilla pudding mix. It would be way to sweet but that is up to you. This recipe is from my Grandma – Marjorie Potter, who was a war bride from England and came to Canada on the Queen Mary shortly after the end of World War II. There aren’t many recipes that have survived into modernity from my Grandma, who enjoyed her vegetable boiled until they were grey in fine English tradition, but this is one that has stood the test of time.

I considered not posting this recipe mainly because of the photos. They aren’t perfect. There is a bit of custard that went up the side a little bit and the Jello/raspberry mix didn’t settle evenly but if you have ever had trifle, that becomes moot when it goes in the bowl.  You will have the distinct components but it is a bit of a mess in the bowl. This is homestyle trifle to be enjoyed with family and friends and it is unfit for a fancy restaurant – just how I like it.

Serves 8+ (or two gluttons over the course of a weekend)
Ingredients
1 store bought pound cake
1/3 cup Harvey’s Bristol Cream (sherry)
1 small pkg (84 g) raspberry Jello
1 cup boiling water
2 1/2 cups frozen raspberries

Custard layer
6 tbsp Bird’s custard powder
4 1/2 tbsp sugar
3 3/4 cup milk

Top with 1 1/2 cups whipping cream, whipped to soft peaks

How-to

1. Slice the cake and line the bottom of the trifle dish. Two layers of cake should be enough. You will use most of the cake. Now, eat the cake that doesn’t fit into the trifle bowl before anyone else gets to it. Drizzle the sherry evenly over the cake. If you like Harvey’s Bristol Cream, pour yourself a glass.
2. In a heat proof dish (I use a large Pyrex measuring cup), pour the 1 cup of boiling water over the Jello powder. Once it is dissolved completely, add the frozen berries and keep stirring them around until they are starting to just set. Pour the berry mixture over the cake and even it out. Put the trifle dish in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
3. In a large glass measuring bowl, mix the custard powder, sugar and whisk in the milk. Cook in the microwave on high for 6-8 minutes. Stir every two minutes but do not walk away from the microwave because when it is nearly done it goes quickly and it will boil over. It is a supreme pain in the rear to clean up custard in the microwave. When the custard comes to a boil it will be nice and thick and it is done.
4. Put a piece of plastic wrap right on the surface of the custard and leave it on the counter to cool for a half hour. While it cools, take the trifle dish out of the fridge so that it can get the chill off. If you put burning hot custard into a very cold bowl you will most assuredly crack your dish – I’ve seen it happen. Put the trifle dish in the fridge with the top lightly covered (not on the surface of the custard as before).
5. When whole dish is nice and cold, cover with freshly whipped cream and serve.