Name: An Excellent Trifle
Ingredients: ½ cup wine; ½ cup brandy; ⅔ cup sherry or Madeira; ⅓ cup spirit; 4 sponge biscuits; ½ pound macaroons; ½ pound ratafias; 1 pint rich boiled custard (made with ¾ pint milk, ¾ pint cream, 6 eggs, sugar, and flavoring); ½ pint thin cream (or cream and milk mixed); 2 teaspoons sugar

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 ↓

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.

Brandy + spirittop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together209 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl benzoate (sweet).
Brandy + sherrytop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,209 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Wine + spirittop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together701 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).
Wine + brandytop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,427 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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: Absorb the soaking liquid and soften, forming the body of the trifle.
Macaroons: Soak up the liquor and soften, adding a chewy, moist layer between the custard.
Wine, brandy, and sherry or madeira: Soak into the biscuits, adding moisture and a warm, fortified flavour.
Rich boiled custard: Adds moisture and richness, filling the gaps between the soaked biscuits.
Thin cream: Whipped to a light froth, it forms an airy topping that contrasts the soaked layers.

The step that matters

Soaking the biscuits. The biscuits must soak long enough to absorb the liquor and soften, but not so long that they collapse. Dry centres stay chalky, while over-soaked biscuits turn mushy and lose their structure under the custard.

“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.

An Excellent Trifle