TEMPTING TRIFLES

New Zealand Listener, Volume 22, Issue 552, 20 January 1950, Page 22

TEMPTING TRIFLES

delicious and luxurious dessert. Too often, when choosing trifle on a menu, one is disappointed to receive just a stodgy piece of stale sponge covered with an over-thick custard and a suspicion of jam here and there. But a real, homemade party trifle is a melting affairthe cake not too thick is spread with jam or jelly, and is soaked in fruit juice, or wine if not for children. The custard is smooth and made with eggs. Then there should be whipped cream on top, and decorations which depend on the maker’s imagination, strawberries or raspberries’ between halved almonds which are stuck in edgewise, and so on. Coloured jelly comes into the picture too. Danish Trifle This is a very special luxury, given me by a Danish chef. The foundation is not sponge cake but macaroons, and if you | cannot how buy these delicious little biscuits, make them beforehand and have them crisp. You need only white of | an made trifle is a egg, coconut and sugar-say 3 egg whites beaten stiff, 4 oz. sugar and 1 cup coconut. Bake in teaspoon lots in moderate oven (about 400 degrees or Regulo 6) until ctisp and a pretty brown. Keep in glass jar or tin. For th. trifle, line a wetted mould with macaroons, which have been soaked in dry ginger ale and a little sherry. Cover the bottom with strawberry jam and fill with Spanish cream mixture slightly flavoured with sherry. Leave to set. When about to be served, cover the top with more soaked macaroons and turn out the mould on to a glass stand or dish. Cover with whipped cream and decorate with strawberries. The Spanish cream mixture is made thus: Dissolve 2 level dessertspoons gelatine in 1% cup hot water. Beat 2 egg yolks with 4 dessertspoons sugar, and add to 1 pint milk. Heat until mixture boils and ‘coats spoon. _ Remove from heat and add gelatine. Finally add stiffly-beaten whites, stir well, and flavour to taste. The custard must just boil, or it will not separate, but remove from heat directly it boils. Norwegian Trifle This is more down to earth than the Danish, and very popular, although not strictly speaking a true trifle. Dissolve 1% oz: gelatine in a cup of hot water, beat 3 egg yolks with 4 oz. sugar, pour the hot gelatine over them and beat well. Add juice of a lemon and stand aside to cool. When nearly set add stiffly beaten egg whites and pour into dish. When cold spread with raspberry or black currant jam and then whipped cream and chopped walnuts. Banana Trifle 4 If the bananas are left soaking in cold. water for a while before cutting up they will not discolour or taste over-ripe after a few hours in fruit salad or trifle. Use sponge fingers for this trifle — they are lighter and daintier than sponge cake. Put about three spread with a good jam in a deep glass dish and cover

with slices of banana. Then put 3 more fingers and another layer of banana slices. Pour on some fruit juice or wine. Make up a packet of red jelly and when cool pour over and leave overnight to set. Next day make a custard with eggs, or with custard powder and beaten egg added. When nearly cold pour custard over. Cover with whipped cream and decorate according to imagination. For peach or apricot trifle, substitute thick slices. of ripe juicy peaches or apricots for the bananas. Pineapple Trifle ‘ Put some slices of plain sponge cake (not teo thick) into a deep glass dish. They may be spread with jam, or not, as desired. Make up a packet of pineapple jelly,. using half water and half tinned pineapple juice, or use plain gelatine and all pineapple juice. A dessertspoon of gelatine sets 14 pint of liquid. Tinned pineapple juice is cooked and so will set; raw pineapple will not set. Pour half the cooled jelly over the sponge cake, leave till soaked in; then covér with cutup squares of fresh pineapple. The pineapple may be cooked in syrup first if liked. Pour over the rest of the jelly: Now make a custard with 3 egg yolks and a pint of milk slightly sweetened. Make this in a double saucepan of a jug standing in a saucepan of boiling water. Beat the egg yolks, add sugar, to which you may add a teaspoon of best cornflour or custard powder, and pour on the hot milk slowly, stirring all the time. Cook in jug till it thickens, stirring, but do not Jet it boil. Pour this over the whole pudding and leave to set. Beat whites of eggs with a little sugar to stiff froth. Whisk lightly % pint of cream. Stir whites into the cream thoroughly but lightly. Heap this mixture on top of trifle. Raspberry Trifle Some slices of sponge cake, % pint cream, whites of 2 eggs, 1 lb. raspberries or strawberries, %4 pint custard made with the yolks of the 2 eggs and 14 pint milk, 3 tablespoons castor sugar. Put about 12 of best berries aside. Mash the rest with the sugar, spread cake slices with jam and put a layer of these in a deep bowl. Then put a layer of mashed fruit. On this pour a little of the thick boiled custard. Next put more cake, then mashed fruit and, custard. Whisk the cream lightly and beat the 2 egg whites to a stiff froth; then stir the whites lightly but thoroughly into the cream. Heap this mixture over the trifle, and decorate with the berries, and chopped nuts or blanched and split almonds. :