Sherry trifle - jelly or no jelly?

scottishchick27

I'm making a sherry trifle for christmas dinner this year and I'm using the Nigella Lawson recipe from her new cook book. The recipe doesn't have gelatine and I wondered how it would 'set'. Won't the custard just melt into the fruit and sponge base?

nearlyrich

Nooooo trifle has to have jelly! Red jelly must be Rowntree's strawberry, trifle sponges soaked in decent sherry topped with thick Bird's custard and double cream and sprinkles. The recipe and the dish are about 100 years old in this house and we only have it for Christmas Day tea.

scottishchick27

OK, so Nigella's recipe says 16 trifle sponges, jar of jam, 500ml cream sherry 2 x 380g packets of frozen summer fruits. Should I decrease the amount of sherry? Should I use a whole packet of rowntrees jelly?

papworth

I have checked my Nigella Christmas book and I have always made my trifle in this way except much less booze (I just sprinkle over the sponges until they look moist) then the fruit custard and cream. No jelly. I also cheat on the custard front and use a tub of Tesco finest fresh custard The trifle tastes fantastic so I'd go for less booze and NO JELLY. Last Christmas one of my guests said it was the best trifle he had ever tasted

bride_on_a_budget

we always have jelly in out trifel at xmas but my husband puts jaffa cakes in it instead of the sponges, its lovely yum!

dazbyd

... an 'original' trifle would not have been made with Jelly ... my Grandma & Great Grandma were a confectioner's by trade ... and always said that jelly was only added because it became 'fashionable' ;-))

jasmine33

I slice up 2 swiss rolls (cheap ones )and place them round the sides of a glass bowl. Empty a tin of fruit cocktail in and cover with jelly made with 3 quarters of a pint of water and a quarter pint of sherry, making sure everything is covered with the jelly. Leave to set then cover with custard and then double cream on top. Yummmmmmm

scottishchick27

papworth wrote: »

I have checked my Nigella Christmas book and I have always made my trifle in this way except much less booze (I just sprinkle over the sponges until they look moist) then the fruit custard and cream. No jelly. I also cheat on the custard front and use a tub of Tesco finest fresh custard The trifle tastes fantastic so I'd go for less booze and NO JELLY. Last Christmas one of my guests said it was the best trifle he had ever tasted

I did think half a litre of sherry was a bit much, don't want DD (6) to be sozzled. :eek:

sillyvixen

no jelly here - yes sherry trifle propper has quite a lot of sherry in it - if you dont want that amount of sherry try using orange juice instead you can use it to substitute a quantity of sherry or completly replace the sherry (as my tetotal friend does)

foreign_correspondent

eeaaugghh cant stand it with too much sherry in it - ruins it for me completely - and yes I like jelly too! Nigellas is posh trifle, but I prefer the bog standard sort with red jelly!

almar_2

Slices of jam roll in the bottom, pour over sherry, then jelly, then custard then whipped Double Cream, topped of with cherries all around the edges and sprinkle the middle with a flake.

We have this every boxing day and it's brill.



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