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economist suntribune satiirday dec 14 2002 w 9 iyztxsi english trifle a piece of cake by andrew hind special my favourite part of christmas meal is the trifle served for dessert in my moms heirloom bowl i can live without the glazed cherries but the rest is simply divine at the time im always too busy gorging myself to think much about my food but the socalled traditional english trifle we find today actually bears little resem blance to those of yesteryear the word trifle implies some thing small or insignificant and yet the modern trifle that has a place on the christmas table layers of cream and custard cake and fruit is anything but this isnt simply a product of typical english understatement rather its indicative of the evolv ing nature of this dessert first invented in the 16th cen tury trifle was originally a much lighter dish in fact it consisted of little more than sweetened cream spiced with cinnamon and thick ened by slow heating during this period it was served as part of an elaborate final course alongside fruit jellies nuts sweet meats cream cheese and syllabubs the latter has become inextri cably linked with the trifle so much so that they eventually came to be all but inseparable the earliest syllabubs were little more than bowls of cider or ale into which a cow was milked forming a unique creamy dessert by the 16th century wine or sherry or both had replaced ale and cider in wealthy households and real cream took the place of milk the mixture was whisked and then allowed to stand after a day or two the cream had thickened and the liquid drained to the bottom of the bowl people would eat away the top lay ers and then drink the wine sauce syllabubs became increasingly popular in the 17th and 18th cen turies largely replacing trifle at the christmas table and yet trifle did not disappear rather it evolved moving toward the more solid form we are familiar with today new ingredients were also added almonds extremely popu lar in the 17th century were added in the shape of small macaroons as jam became more widely avail able thanks to the plentiful supply of sugar from the caribbean cane fields it too was included finally the creamy syllabub was added to the top of the con coction creating for the first time a dessert we would recognize today in the 20th century weve made a number of substitutes to the recipe however custard powder replaces the rich mixture of eggs and cream that is the true custard sauce sherry flavouring replaced the real deal synthetic whip creams appeared on top and glazed cherries replaced fresh fruit while my moms trifle may not resemble that which queen elizabeth i enjoyed back in the 16th century i love it just the same look for more recipes from our readers in this section authentic custard 2 cups milk 12 teaspoon of pure vanilla 2 tbsp of sugar 4 egg yokes warm the milk and vanilla in a saucepan then remove and cover allowing it to stand for 10 minutes stir in the sugar whisk the eggs yokes thoroughly and add to milk return to heat and allow it to slowly stirring all the time until the custard is thick enough to coat a spoon add to trifle real traditional trifle this is actually based on a recipe found in one of englands earliest cookbooks the good huswife s handmaid published in 1594 modern ingredients have been substituted where required 2 tbsp of sugar 212 cups heavy cream 34 tbsp ground ginger 1 tbsp rosewater heat the cream over a very low flame making sure not to let it come to a boil allow it to cool and then whip as it thick ens slowly add sugar rosewater and ginger serve with fruit staff photomike barrett readers have answered our call for trifle recipes submitting a variety of tasty desserts this trifle was prepared by newmarkets audrie sanderson try these tasty recipes aileen moretons trifle recipe this recipe has been in our family dating back to when i lived in south ern ireland it has now become a must at our christmas table it has also won two red ribbons at the markhamfair 1 jelly roll raspberry jam slivered almonds birds eye custard whipping cream 12 pint sherry 14 cup your best red maraschino cherries cut jelly roll into bitesize pieces i spread extra jam on these pieces place a layer on the bottom of your best glass bowl sprinkle with some of your best sherry repeat this until all of the jelly roll has been used and make sure all pieces are covered with sherry make custard according to instructions on tin when ready pour over jelly roll and make sure it gets through to the bottom of the bowl cool and let set at room temperature before serving sprinkle some almonds on top of custard and then the whip ping cream dot with some red maraschino cherries this trifle always tastes better served at room tem perature i think its because you can taste the sher ry the more sherry you use the better the trifle so they say sandy stronach stouffville old english trifle this is my late mothers recipe for old english trifle i ate it for breakfast christmas morning she made it every christmas without exception 1 large jelly roll vanilla with raspberry or strawberry filling 1 large can of fancy fruit cocktail 1 strawberry jello powder sherry- enough to soak the jelly roll 34 cup seepage 18 dr h h walji optometrist hons bsc msc od fios theyre not grandmas spectacle lenses insight into eyesight new eyewear that is contoured to your eye like wraparound sunglasses prescription eyewear is contoured to your eye to improve peripheral vision by 40 percent a new antiscratch and antireflective lens coating that will actually not scratch smear or peel off the thinnest and the lightest spectacle lens is half the thickness of regular plastic lenses and is about 40 percent lighter 4 photosensitive lenses that are a fun colour for indoors yellow orange rose violet blue and teal and a darker shade of the same colour when you go outside 5- progressive lenses that are virtually distortionfree for freedom to enjoy clear natural vision at all distances in the 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