Trifle

Trifle is an English dessert consisting of several layers of custard, fruit or jam, sponge cake and whipped cream. The sponge is generally soaked with alcohol (port, sweet sherry, Madeira or white wine).

The word Trifle is derived from the Middle English trufle, which in turn goes back to French trufe and means something like trifle or nullity.

The dessert has changed over time. There was already the end of the 16th century in England a dessert called trifle, but essentially consisted of whipped cream and had great resemblance to today's Fool. The oldest known recipe with this name appeared in 1596 in the book The Good Huswife 's Jewell. The present form of the trifle was not until the mid-18th century, made ​​from soaked sponge cake and custard and a layer syllabub, which was later replaced by whipped cream. The first recipe of this kind published Hannah Glasse.

Closely related to Trifle are desserts like Tipsy cake, Whim - Wham and zuppa inglese.

Source

• Alan Davidson: The Oxford Companion to Food. 2nd edition, edited by Tom Jaine. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2006, inter alia, ISBN 0-19-280681-5, Trifle.