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Dessert

An Excellent Trifle

A layered dessert of soaked sponge biscuits, macaroons, and ratifias with custard, thin cream, and whipped syllabub.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Brandy and spirit work together. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 209 recipes. Both carry ethyl benzoate, which smells sweet. The science ↓

An Excellent Trifle

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the soak

  1. Soak the sponge biscuits, macaroons, and ratifias in the mixture of wine, brandy, sherry, and spirit.

Assemble the trifle

  1. Cover the bottom of a trifle dish with part of the soaked cakes.

  2. Pour 1 pint of rich boiled custard over the cakes.

  3. Layer the remaining soaked cakes on top of the custard.

Top and finish

  1. Prepare whipped syllabub and pile it over the trifle to a depth of 2-3 inches.

  2. Sweeten and flavor the thin cream with wine, then whip it to a light froth.

  3. Gently heap the whipped cream over the trifle.

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. Brandy + spirittop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together209 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl benzoate (sweet).

  2. Brandy + sherrytop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,209 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  3. Wine + spirittop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together701 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).

  4. Wine + brandytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,427 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

  5. Sherry + milktop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,479 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).

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

What each ingredient does

Sponge biscuits
Soak up the wine and spirits, forming the soft base layers of the trifle.
Macaroons
Absorb the alcohol and add a chewy, almond-flavored texture between the custard layers.
Rich boiled custard
Provides moisture and richness that softens the soaked cakes and gives the trifle its body.
Thin cream
Whipped into a light froth, it forms the airy topping that contrasts with the dense layers below.
Wine
Flavors and moistens the cakes and sweetens the cream topping.

The step that matters

Whipping the cream to a light froth. Cream that is over-whipped turns grainy and heavy, while under-whipped cream will not hold its shape on top of the trifle. Stopping at a soft, airy froth keeps the topping light and spoonable.

“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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