When I’m manning the kitchen, “mistakes” are simply opportunities for resurrection, redemption, and heavy cream.

Improvisation № IV/i

Heavy cream can fix just about anything.This post is the 1st in a 3-part series that chronicles the metamorphosis of failed cake into creamy and successful trifle.

Welcome to Trifle Improv

A trifle consists of layers

Choco-PB Trifle

Traditionally, trifle, you see, is dished up in a rather beautifully in a transparent glass bowl that allows the layers to be visible. Trifle bowls don’t look large, but trifle is distinctly rich, so you reap tons of servings from a full bowl. Mine is 8″ in diameter and 5″ deep, and that turns out to be plenty for a party.

Don’t feel a duty to fill your dish, by the way. I’ve seen several astonishing trifles in semi-filled vessels, half or ⅔ filled. You don’t have to use a dedicated trifle bowl, unless you just can’t bear to part with the irony of putting “something of very little importance” into an ostentatious container. Any comely crystal crock will fill the bill. If you can’t manage glass, go for it in any goddamned bowl.

Custard and Cream

Prototypical trifles use custard, yet you can swap in something with a similar consistency: pudding, lemon curd, etc. Let the cake impact your selection. Take care to make this custardy ingredient from scratch. You’re goddamned cake failed, so you can’t have a crappy custard. It needs to be exemplary. Otherwise, you run the risk of turning this blazé cake into a boring trifle. To fill the trifle bowl, you need about 3-4 cups of custard. (Lemon curd, because it’s so intensely flavored, you don’t need as much.)

The custardy layer usually alternates with some form of whipped cream. If you start with 3 cups of cream, you should be able to come up with more than enough whip.

Layers and Toppings

Hazelnut Topping

I’ve seen trifles with as few as two layers and as many as five. Seems like most have four. Regardless of the number of layers, you usually start with a custardy layer on the bottom – but that’s not an unbreakable rule.

There’s always a topping, which may be an extension of the layer pattern. For instance, if your layers are alternating custard and whip and your top layer is custard, you may mound a few large dollops of whip on top. As an alternative, the topping may be a departure from the layered ingredients: fruit, a drizzle of caramel sauce, or something manly, like nuts.

Continue Reading: Trifle Improv, Pt. 2