TIPSY TRIFFLE PUDDING

TIPSY PUDDING OR TIPSY TRIFLE – THE ALCOHOLIC VERSION OF THE ENGLISH TRIFLE PUDDING

A Trifle is a Dessert dish made from thick (or often solidified) custard, fruit, sponge cake, fruit juice and whipped cream. These ingredients are usually arranged in layers in a pretty glass bowl or dish with the sponge cake forming the bottom layer. The earliest known recipe for “Trifle” was published in a book called "The good housewife's Jewell" by Thomas Dawson. in 1596 in England. The ingredients for this first Trifle Recipe was thick cream flavoured with sugar, ginger and rosewater pored over slices of Sponge Cake. Sixty years later, milk custard was added to the list of ingredients and the custard was poured over alcohol soaked bread.
A Trifle Pudding is often used for decoration as well as taste, incorporating the bright, layered colours of the fruit, jelly, egg custard, and the contrast of the cream. Some trifles contain a small amount of alcohol such as port, or, most commonly, sweet sherry or Madeira wine. The Original Tipsy Pudding or Tipsy Trifle was a cake well soaked with sherry or wine and served with a boiled custard poured over it. This Alcoholic Version of the Trifle Pudding came to known as ‘Tipsy Pudding or Tipsy Trifle’ as it made one slightly tipsy and jolly from the wine or sherry in it. The Non-alcoholic versions use fruit juices or soft drinks such as ginger ale, lemonade etc instead of the sherry or wine as some liquid is necessary to moisten the cake layers.

The Tipsy Trifle Pudding is often served in Anglo-Indian Homes at Christmas time, sometimes as a lighter alternative to the much denser Christmas pudding and at Parties and High teas.
No specific recipe need be followed for preparing a Trifle. It all depends on the availability of the ingredients. One can mix and match and make a trifle using ingredients that are readily available at home. If you don't have a true trifle bowl, use any straight-sided round glass bowl as the layers look beautiful from the sides of a glass bowl or make individual trifles in small round tumblers.

Below is a recipe for a simple Tipsy Trifle Pudding. You can buy the sponge cake from any local bakery. Make the custard using the ready to use custard mixes available in supermarkets. Use any Alcohol of your choice and use your own favourite jelly flavours and Jam . Omit the Alcohol if you desire. In this recipe I’ve omitted the custard and used layers of fresh cream instead. In one of the puddings, I used sliced bananas and chunks of fresh mangoes to garnish instead of cherries and walnuts.

RECIPE FOR TIPSY TRIFLE PUDDING

Ingredients
300 grams sponge cake
4 tablespoons mixed fruit jam
1 cup whiskey or wine or sherry
1 large tin of canned mixed fruit divide into 3 portions
1 cup prepared jelly
100 grams candied cherries and walnuts (for decoration)
½ litre fresh cream

Method

1. Whip the fresh cream to soft peaks consistency and divide into 3 parts.
2. Drain the excess syrup from the canned fruits. Mix 2 tablespoons of jam to this fruit syrup and mix well. Add the whiskey or sherry or wine to this syrup and divide into 3 portions.
3. Divide the canned fruit into 3 parts
4. Using a sharp knife, slice the cake horizontally into 3 layers. So that they can fit the bottom of the bowl in which the pudding is to be set. (The layers may break but don’t worry)
5. Spread the 3 layers of cake liberally with jam.
6. Place one of the cake layers in the glass bowl and soak with one portion of the whiskey and fruit syrup Press down firmly down.
7. Now spread a layer of the tinned fruit over the soaked sponge cake layer. Top this layer with one portion of the fresh Cream .
8. Repeat the layers twice more as before with the remaining sponge cake, fruit and cream.
9. Smoothen out the top layer of cream using a spatula.
10. Garnish with cherries, walnuts (and fresh fruit) . Chill and serve when required.