Although a small amount of sherry is used in this recipe, the alcohol dissipates over night. If you don’t like booze, you can just ignore it. You can use two cartons of vanilla pudding mix or custard mix in place of the pastry cream. However, using pastry cream adds a lot of richness to the dish.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 10 mins |
| Additional Time: | 12 hrs |
| Total Time: | 12 hrs 40 mins |
| Servings: | 10 |
| Yield: | 10 to 12 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 (16 ounce) package angel food cake mix, prepared in a loaf pan
- ½ cup cream sherry
- 1 (10 ounce) jar raspberry jam
- 1 ⅓ cups white sugar
- ⅔ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 cups milk
- 10 egg yolks, beaten
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1 ½ cups sliced almonds
- 12 maraschino cherries
Instructions
- The night before, slice the cake into 1/2 inch slices and sprinkle with sherry. Cover lightly so it won’t get stale. Let sit overnight to allow alcohol to evaporate.
- To make the pastry cream: Mix sugar, flour and salt together in the top of double boiler. Slowly add milk to form a smooth mixture. Cook over low-medium heat stirring constantly until the mixture begins to thicken. Slowly pour 1/2 the hot milk mixture into a bowl of the beaten egg yolks, stirring constantly. Then pour all the mixture back into the double boiler and sir until thick. Add butter and vanilla. Chill.
- The next day, spread raspberry jam on top of sherried cake layers (or ladyfingers). Layer the bottom of a bowl with 1/3 the cake and pour 1/3 of the pastry cream over the top. Sprinkle with nuts. Layer cake, cream and nuts until all of the ingredients have been used. Top the uppermost layer with whipped cream and garnish with maraschino cherries and slivered almonds. Refrigerate 1 to 2 hours before serving.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 762 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 101 g |
| Cholesterol | 284 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 2 g |
| Protein | 14 g |
| Saturated Fat | 16 g |
| Sodium | 602 mg |
| Sugars | 76 g |
| Fat | 34 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I love trifle’s so anytime I find a new one, I just have to try it out. This one was a huge hit with the family. It was very easy to make (my 11 year old actually did most of it) and the directions are superb even for a new cook like my daughter. Give this an all around thumbs up. Wil be trying more of these very soon. It is summer after all.
Turned out fabulous.. I used raspberry jello and fresh raspberries as well as a fruit cocktail with the sponge in the jello with birds custard. Went down well for Christmas dessert!
I made this two nights ago it was great!! I fashioned a double boiler out of a metal mixing bowl an had a blast!!
This recipe does sound delicious but ti is not a true English sherry trifle, speaking as a true English person, a sherry trifle from back home is sponge fingers soaked in sherry, with tinned mixed fruit drained and then a raspberry jelly (jello) poured over the top and set then a layer of thick proper custard followed on top of that a thick layer of dream topping and sprinkles!… that is a true common English Trifle !!
I too always make traditional English trifle, which I layer with sponge cake, brandy, red jello, fruit, blamonge, custard and whipped cream, but I do the easy way for potlucks at work using vanilla pudding and cool whip, Blamonge here in the US is just a instant cornstarch pudding which you can find in the Mexican food isle at most grocery stores. Any variation you do is a sure hit.
I made this recipe last Fall and everyone loved it. I substituted the pastry cream with instant vanilla pudding.
If this recipe had used homemade sponge cake or even packaged ladyfingers, it would have gotten 5 stars. Unlike every other English trifle recipe here, it uses real pastry cream instead of a mix and does not substitute whipped topping for real whipped cream. A real trifle to me is sponge cake, custard, jam, sherry, and whipped cream. It is not a collection of processed foods. You can really taste the difference, especially with the taste of the custard.
I just love this recipe! Now, with that being said, this last time I made trifle I did make quite a few changes. Instead of using cream sherry, I used Chambord liquer. I used a pre-made frozen pound cake that I cut into squares when thawed. Next, I had custard powder in the house from a different recipe, so I made that instead of the pastry cream that this recipe calls for. I know, lots of changes, but the 4 stars I give this recipe is what I rate it when I make it according to the original directions. The changes I made this last time are just optional suggestions to save time and change it up!
Delicious and beautiful; 2 packages of vanilla pudding made to directions can be substituted. My double boiler is too small so I had to make it in 2 batches. Served it New Years Eve to 16 people; had several requests for the recipe.