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Layered Trifle with Sherry-Soaked Lady Fingers, Fresh Strawberries, and Whipped Cream

My great grandmother has a number of classic dessert recipes that have been in our family for generations. I vaguely recall eating these Trifle-style desserts a few times as a child, but it really dropped out of life for a few decades. This Trifle involves packaged Lady Fingers that are soaked in Sherry, layered with homemade custard, strawberries, raspberry jam, whipped cream, slivered almonds, and some fresh mint. When you layer all of the ingredients in a deep glass serving bowl, the visual effect can be really dramatic.

Ingredients

  • 4 oz packaged Lady Fingers
  • ¼ cup Sherry
  • 3 whole eggs
  • ¼ cup white granulated sugar
  • 1/8 tsp kosher salt
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • ¼ cup raspberry jam, I adore the Bonne Madame brand
  • 2 cups fresh strawberries, washed & quartered
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 Tbsp white granulated sugar
  • ½ tsp almond extract
  • ¼ cup slivered almond
  • 4 mint leaves, finely sliced, as garnish

Instructions 

  • Drizzle the sherry over the Lady Finger cookies and allow the Lady Fingers to soak for roughly 10 minutes.
  • When the lady fingers have soaked up the sherry, arrange them in a deep glass serving dish along the bottom of the dish and also standing vertically up against the sides of the dish.
  • Set the serving dish with the arranged lady fingers aside.
  • In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the 3 whole eggs with the ¼ cup white granulated sugar and the 1/8 tsp kosher salt.
  • In a medium-sized pot on the stove, bring 2 cups of whole milk to a simmer over medium-high heat.
  • When simmering, turn off the heat and wait for two minutes.
  • Whisk 1 cup of the hot milk very, very slowly into the whisked egg and sugar mixture.
  • *Whisk while you are simultaneously pouring a slow drizzle of the hot milk into the egg mixture. This will help you to avoid scrambling your eggs when you’re bringing them up to temperature.
  • Whisk the egg and milk mixture slowly back into the hot milk on the stove.
  • Turn back on the heat on the stove to medium-low, and cook on medium-low heat until the egg and milk mixture reaches 175F.
  • Remove the custard from the stove and allow to cool at room temperature for 20-30 minutes.
  • When the custard has cooled for 30 minutes, pour it over the prepared lady fingers and cover with plastic wrap.
  • Place the covered serving dish with the lady fingers and the custard in the fridge to allow for the custard to cool and set.
  • When you are ready to serve, remove the Trifle from the fridge.
  • Very gently dot the raspberry jam over the custard base.
  • Add the fresh strawberries on top in an even layer.
  • Whip the heavy cream with the white granulated sugar and blend in the almond extract.
  • Add the whipped cream layer on top of the strawberries and spread until it is an even layer.
  • Add the slivered almonds on top of the whipped cream.
  • Add the thinly sliced mint on top of the almonds and serve.

Notes

You can assemble the soaked lady fingers and pour the prepared the custard over them and allow the mixture to set in the fridge overnight, the day before you intend to serve the Trifle. Before you serve it, add the whipped cream and berries and remaining toppings.
I’ve also seen some Trifles similar to the one described above, where sliced bananas are added in. If that sounds good to you, try it out!