A Proper Edwardian Trifle (courtesy of three generations of my mother's family)
This is not the namby-pamby sort of so-called trifle of the sort that gets onto televised cheffy programmes these days and it's much in demand by the men of my acquaintance! Be careful when catering for drivers and children, though.
Line the bottom of a large glass dish with trifle sponges or slightly stale cake spread with raspberry jam and a few crushed ratafia (or amaretti) biscuits. Pour over sherry (as much as it will absorb - Emva Cream is good - horrible for drinking but excellent for trifle). Drain a large tin of peaches reserving the canning liquid and spread the peaches and some fresh raspberries over the cake and sherry. Refridgerate.
In the meantime make up a red and a green jelly using the liquid from the canned peaches plus boiling water (not too much - you want it to set firmly) and put in the 'fridge to set, and a pint of thick custard (my Great Grandmother used to make her own custard but you can use Birds) and leave to cool and almost set. Later or next day chop the set jelly and layer the two colours on the cake and fruit then stir a good slug of rum into the custard and place on top of the jelly. Chill again.
Whip up some double cream - enough for a good thick layer - and spread on top of the rest. Decorate to your taste - glace cherries, slivered almonds, silver balls, etc., this is not meant to be tasteful decoration! Chill until ready to eat. There won't be any left over IME but if there is it's yummy next day when the left-overs have collapsed in on themselves and gone all squishy.
Made a version of this for a Caribbean evening, substituting ginger cake and ginger jam for the trifle sponges and raspberry and soaking it with ginger wine and rum. For the fruit and jelly layers used mango and tropical fruit jelly. Topped with rum-laced custard and whipped cream and decorated it with glace pineapple, etc. Went down very well.