well if it isn't the jolly english yummynummy pudding: the trifle!! An English Trifle makes a fabulous dessert at any festive occasion or holiday dinner (not to mention an unusual plot device in Little White Lies). The "Hunnechurch Family Trifle" is a classic, made with authentic ingredients. It serves 8-10. A trifle is both a high carb and high fat dessert, so it is not an everyday dish (don't even think about dieting or cholesterol when you serve it up). However, as Pippa explains in Little White Lies: "Generations of Brits have aged gracefully on diets of fatty roast beef and trifle." It's suprisingly easy to make a classic trifle. To quote Chloe Hunnechurch-Parker, "you assemble it in a large, elegant glass bowl." You can use a glass trifle bowl, a punch bowl, or even a salad bowl. (Ron and Janet Benrey use a trifle bowl that cost $12. It measures about nine inches in diameter and six inches deep.) Main Ingredients Pound cake or sponge cake — two one-pound loaves Raspberry preserves — 8-ounce jar Raspberry syrup — 8-ounce jar Macaroons or Amaretti cookies — a handful, finely crushed Slivered almonds — 4 tablespoons Chopped candied fruit — 1/2 cup Dessert sherry — 4 tablespoons (more if you prefer) Custard Eggs, two whole eggs, plus two egg yokes Whole milk — 1 pint Sugar — 1/4 cup Vanilla extract — 1 teaspoon Whipped Cream Heavy whipping cream — 8 ounces Sugar — 1 tablespoon Vanilla extract — 1/8 teaspoon Start by making small "sandwiches" of cake and raspberry jam. Each sandwich should measure roughly two-inches square and perhaps an inch thick. Line the trifle bowl with a layer of cake-and-jam sandwiches, leaving about 1/16 of space between each. Sprinkle finely crushed macaroons and slivered almonds on top. Add bits of candied fruit for color. Add a second, similarly spaced, layer of cake-and-jam sandwiches — this layer running in a different direction than the first. Sprinkle more crushed macaroons and slivered almonds. Top off with a third layer of cake-and-jam sandwiches. Moisten the cake-and-jam sandwiches with raspberry syrup and four tablespoons of dessert sherry. The photo, left, is what the "initial assembly" will look like. Do not worry about uniformity or neatness! Make custard in a heavy saucepan. Start by beating four egg yolks and two egg whites together. In another saucepan, heat one pint of milk and one quarter cup of sugar almost to the boiling point. Slowly trickle the hot milk into the beaten eggs, stirring constantly over low heat until the mixture starts to thicken. Do not let the mixture overheat, or you will make a pot full of scrambled eggs. Add one teaspoon of pure vanilla extract to the thickened custard. Pour the still-warm custard over the cake-and-jam sandwiches. As shown in the photo, right, the custard will fill the nooks and crannies between adjacent sandwiches. In effect, the flowing custard "ties together" the other trifle ingredients. When the custard has cooled to lukewarm, place the trifle bowl in the refrigerator to cool. Top the chilled trifle with freshly whipped cream. Whip eight ounces of heavy whipping cream, a tablespoon of sugar, and 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract. Decorate with almond slivers nuts and bits of candied fruit. You can vary the ingredients as your imagination guides you. Some cooks add fruit (peaches are especially nice). Others add chocolate to the custard. Still others use rum or brandy instead of sherry. The most difficult part of making a trifle is preparing the custard. And so, Brits often use Bird's Dessert Custard instead. (Bird's is packaged, egg-free, custard available in many U.S. "gourmet" shops and international food aisles. It is similar to packaged custard mixes you'll find in any supermarket.) BUT, to experience a classic British trifle, take the trouble to make real custard!
i think stir fries are better to cook. my breakfast/lunch/tea was: a ton of mixed veg, brandy, soy sauce & sunflower oil. mmmmmmmmmmm... and noodles
aye stir frys may be nice - but if someone asked me to make a trifle then i guess i should besides, the main course is a fish dish, so i doubt a fish dish then a stir fry for pudding would go down well!! haha
oh yeah... stir fries aren't pudding. i forget these things. this is what you get from a steady diet dominated by lettuce and salad dip sandwiches and a whole lotta whisky
it must be - lettuce and salad dip sandwiches!!! wo0o0o. ok, it was a lie. that is my favourite food at the moment. more accurately: weekdays: i have breakfast about once or twice a week - usually a bowl of cereal for lunch, i don't bother. mostly my parents feed me at teatime, which is cooked like really healthily. at the weekend, i have a pot noodle for lunch, i'm up too late for breakfast, and tea tends to be a sugar-hype fest. for drinks, i have a lot of whisky, beer... all alcohol except vodka **hurls**... ooo! and orange juice. mmm
mmm vodka.....ah no!!!! vodka is a vile drink at night and especcialy in the morning and should only be used in the dismalissed(sp?) of conditions....
yesyes, it means most dismal. lol. wasn't entirely sure how to go about making 'most dismal' into one word...
