Trifle pudding

The quintessential layered English dessert has stood the test of time, although in various incarnations.

It is said to date back to 1598 when an Oxford-educated translator, John Florio, referred to “A kinde of clouted creame called a foole or a trifle in English” and was the “it” dessert during the Victorian era when day-old sponge cakes were soaked in wine along with fruit and topped with an egg custard.

In my world, there is no set recipe for a trifle pudding because I think that trifle should live up to its word of origin — trufle. The old French term literally means something whimsical.

So I can see trifles being built with cookies such as Oreos, Thin Mints and biscotti instead of the cake. If a white chocolate or dark chocolate pudding mix is used instead of vanilla custard, that’s fine by me, and lemon curd or chocolate chips or nuts are welcome additions.

Topping a trifle with whipped cream is one thing but please don’t ruin it by using the white stuff from a tub.

VERY BERRY TRIFLE PUDDING

Makes 8 servings

The standard trifle features some sort of vanilla cake, but I found that lady fingers work just as well with all those fruits. And any instant pudding flavor can be used, including vanilla and white chocolate vanilla bean.

1 package (3 ounces) strawberry

gelatin

4 cups fresh strawberries, sliced

½ cup sugar

1 package (7 ounces) lady fingers 2 packages (3.4 or ounces) vanilla

pudding

4 cups 2% cold milk

2 cups fresh blackberries

2 cups fresh blueberries

6 ounces raspberries, to decorate on top

In a medium bowl, add 2 cups boiling water to the gelatin and stir to dissolve. Then add 2 cups cold water. Transfer liquid to a trifle bowl and refrigerate for 1½ hours to set.

In a second bowl, add strawberries and sugar. Combine gently and set aside.

Cut lady fingers in half and arrange them neatly on top of the set gelatin.

In a third bowl, whisk pudding mix with milk. Spoon pudding and spread evenly over the lady fingers.

Arrange strawberry slices on top of custard and add sugar syrup that has formed at the bottom of bowl. Layer blackberries over strawberries. Spoon the rest of the pudding over the blackberries.

Add blueberries over the pudding. Top with raspberries for garnish.

Note: A nutritional analysis is not available.