© David Loftus

Joyful trifles

method

Both of these trifles are an absolute joy. My mum’s retro trifle is a blast from my past. It uses
some iconic products from my childhood, and just looking at it makes me feel like a kid
again. The Wimbledon trifle is my fun homage to one of our great sporting institutions. You
can buy blancmange and Bird’s Custard online.

My Mum’s Retro Trifle

Lay the slices of Swiss roll all over the bottom of a glass trifle dish (roughly 12 inches wide),
overlapping them. Scatter over the strawberries, then drizzle over the Cointreau. Dissolve the
strawberry gelatin in 1 cup of boiling water, then add 1 cup of cold water and mix. Once cool,
SLOWLY pour the gelatin all over the cake and leave in the fridge for 3 hours to set. When it’s set,
put the 2 tablespoons of milk into a bowl and stir in the 2 teaspoons of sugar and the blancmange.
Pour the 2 ½ cups of milk into a medium saucepan and bring to a gentle boil. Add the milk to the
blancmange mixture, whisking as you bring it back to the boil. Pour it back into the bowl and leave
to cool, then SLOWLY pour that over the strawberry gelatin, and put into the fridge for 3 hours.

Make the orange gelatin the same way as the strawberry gelatin. As it cools, scatter your mandarin
segments over the set blancmange. SLOWLY pour over the orange gelatin and leave to set for
another 3 hours. At this point, GENTLY spread the custard all over the orange gelatin. Refrigerate
overnight. Before serving, whip the heavy cream with the vanilla extract until you have soft peaks,
and CAREFULLY spread that over the custard. Serve with sprinkles on top.

Wimbledon Trifle

Divide the slices of ginger loaf between 12 small glass tumblers, overlapping them. Halve
the strawberries and divide between the tumblers. Tear over a few mint leaves, then put the
glasses in the fridge for an hour. Put ½ cup of the lemon-lime soda in a bowl and sprinkle over
the gelatin. Let soak for 3 minutes. Place a saucepan on a low heat and add the Pimm’s. As soon
as it’s hot, whisk it into the gelatin mixture and keep whisking until the gelatin’s dissolved. Pour
the remaining chilled soda into the bowl, stir, then SLOWLY divide between the tumblers, so
the gelatin comes just above the strawberries. Return to the fridge for about 2 hours.

Once set, bash up the remaining mint leaves in a pestle and mortar with the sugar and put
aside. Add a splash of vanilla extract and the lemon zest to your cream and whisk until just
soft and peaky. Blob the lemony cream over each little trifle and top with the mint sugar.

serves:

ingredients

My Mum’s Retro Trifle

SERVES 14

. 1 x 1 lb vanilla Swiss roll (or pound cake sandwiched with raspberry or strawberry preserves), sliced ¾-inch thick
. 1 lb strawberries, hulled and sliced
. ½ cup Cointreau
. 1 x 3-ounce package strawberry powdered gelatin
. 2 tablespoons full-fat milk
. 2 teaspoons superfine sugar
. 1 x 35g packet strawberry blancmange
. 2 ½ cups full-fat milk
. 1 x 3-ounce package orange powdered gelatin
. 1 cup drained mandarin orange segments (or canned sliced peaches)
. 500ml ready-made Bird’s Custard (or 2 cups chilled vanilla pudding)
. 1 ¼ cups heavy cream
. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

To serve
. cute sprinkles


Wimbledon Trifle

SERVES 12

. ½ lb sticky ginger loaf (or pound cake spread with a ginger conserve or marmalade) cut into 1/2-inch slices
. 1 lb ripe strawberries, hulled
. 3 sprigs of fresh mint
. 2⅓ cups of good-quality lemon-lime soda, chilled in the fridge
. 3 ¾ teaspoons powdered gelatin
. ¾ cup Pimm’s
. 6 teaspoons caster sugar
. a splash of vanilla extract
. zest of 1 lemon
. 1 ¼ cups heavy cream