For years, the trifle—that extravagant, old-fashioned holiday dessert with English origins—meant layers of sherry-soaked sponge cake, jelly, custard and whipped cream, all displayed in a cut-glass bowl. As our recipes prove, there's a lot more to a trifle than just that. Yes, trifles look fancy, especially if they're served in a footed glass bowl that gives them a pedestal, but the secret behind them is that they are easy to make. In fact, a trifle is not really about the making; instead, it's about the assembling. Sure, some recipes call for baking sponge, almond, or another drier textured cake to layer with fruit, custard, whipped cream, and other delicious surprises, but many of our trifle recipes call for using store-bought cake, such as pound cake.
One thing that is non-negotiable is the serving dish. It doesn't have to be tall or footed, but it does need to be glass. As evidenced by the Strawberry-Banana Pudding pictured here, these are the types of a desserts that you need to see—there are layers and we don't want to hide them. Another thing to love about the trifle is how well it takes on different flavors, as you'll see from our collection of recipes here. Sure, there is magnificent Raspberry Trifle and other fruit-first versions featuring peaches (frozen ones so it can be made anytime of the year) and strawberries. We also have a Lemon Trifle that uses lemon curd rather than fruit and ladyfingers for the cake layer—you could say it's inspired by Zuppa Inglese.
Still, there's more to our trifle recipes than fruit. The trifle shines as an ode to chocolate and peppermint, sparkles in a doubly boozy version with sherry and brandy (which has a definite Italian accent thanks to the use of amaretti cookies and ladyfingers), and is a magnificent holiday dessert when gingerbread is used for the cake layer, pears serve as the fruit, and a cognac custard ties it all together.
