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Dessert

A Trifle

A layered dessert of biscuits, jam, custard, and cream, topped with candied peel and sugar-plums.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Sherry and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,209 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

A Trifle

Ingredients

Directions

Assemble

  1. In a glass trifle dish, layer the savoy biscuits, ratifeas, and macaroons after removing any wafer paper from the bottoms.

  2. Pour the sherry and brandy over the cakes and let them soak well.

  3. Spread the raspberry jam on top of the soaked cakes.

  4. Pour the boiled custard over the jam layer.

Finish and garnish

  1. Top the custard with whipped cream in a pyramid shape.

  2. Garnish with candied orange or lemon peel, thinly cut green citron, and a few small nonpareil sugar-plums.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Sherry + brandytop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,209 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Raspberry + plumtop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together80 recipes

    Shared aroma: damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Raspberry + orangetop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together521 recipes

    Shared aroma: damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Orange + plumtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together309 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Sherry + plumtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together58 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Savoy biscuits
Soak up the sherry and brandy to form the structure of the trifle.
Sherry or white wine
Moistens the cakes and adds acidity and aroma that balance the sweetness.
Brandy
Soaks into the cakes and adds aroma and warmth to the dessert.
Raspberry jam
Adds fruity sweetness and a layer of flavor between the cakes and custard.
Boiled custard
Adds a rich, creamy moist layer that softens the cakes below.
Whipped cream
Adds a light, airy fat-rich topping that contrasts with the soaked cakes.

The step that matters

Let the cakes soak well. The biscuits, ratifeas and macaroons must absorb the sherry and brandy fully before the jam and custard go on. Dry spots stay firm and tasteless, while a well-soaked base becomes tender and evenly flavored throughout.

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (biscuit, sherry, brandy, raspberry, cream, sugar, plum):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Apricotfits better
  3. Peachfits better
  4. Orangethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against biscuit, sherry, brandy, raspberry, cream, sugar, plum. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

More trifle recipes

Apple 48Gooseberry 43Lemon 18Swiss Cream 17Brandy 13Grape 12 See all 115 →

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