Mum's sherry trifle

“Growing up in the 1970s in a family of six children was very interesting where food was concerned – there are so many wonderful, nostalgic memories. My mum would shop on a shoestring and the shopping bags would be raided before they were even unpacked. Our family meals were simple and would always feature potatoes and some sort of “meat”, but the magic would happen with the homemade puddings. Sherry trifle was always my dad’s favourite and would be a masterpiece made over a couple of days. Fresh raspberries or strawberries came from my grandpa’s garden or the pick-your- own farm (the abundance frozen so we could eat them during the winter). The sherry-soaked boudoir biscuits (why are they called that? The name still makes me smile) were often replaced with Weetabix biscuits because my siblings and I would have pinched them. In the words of Mr Kipling, surprisingly good. Then the wobbly raspberry or strawberry jelly, the silky Bird’s Custard and softly cold vanilla whipped cream with hundreds and thousands, more berries and chocolate flakes crumbled over the top. Sometimes a bit of candied angelica made an appearance, too – but I didn’t really understand why. The way we could tell Mum’s trifle was a good one was if it “squelched” when the spoon went in. So delicious and so very reminiscent of a Sunday afternoon. I have written this recipe using packet jelly and Bird’s Custard because that’s what Mum always used and it would be wrong to change! ”