In the pantheon of desserts, trifles — or “spoon desserts” as I’ve often called them (because they are traditionally “spooned” out of a large bowl) — are not the showiest, or even the most difficult to make. Indeed, professional pastry chefs tend to place these types of layered custards into yet another category — “utilization” desserts, because they “utilize” an ingredient that’s commonly left over: primarily cake scraps, as well as extra fruit that’s not pretty enough for covering a tart.
It turns out these layered leftovers have a slightly more intriguing history. Traces of the English trifle date back to the late 1600s, when they were considered a popular dish for family celebrations, according to Alan Davidson’s “The Penguin Companion to Food” (Penguin Books, 2002). By the mid-1700s, recipes that included the dessert’s key components were published in several cookbooks of the day.
So, what are these key components? What makes a trifle a trifle?
1. Sponge cake or cookies that will soak up moisture, and are often — as they say, tipsy pudding — doused with a liqueur to add flavor and soften the crumbs.
2. Pudding or custard (modern versions will often use a pudding mix).
3. Fruit or some other flavoring (fruit is traditional; flavorings such as coffee are used in trifles like tiramisu).
4. Whipped cream or, in some cases, meringue.
Banana pudding, that old Southern staple, is an excellent example of how these desserts crossed the Atlantic and adapted to the influences of the history happening around them. In this case, the trade from the Caribbean and India brought “exotic” fruits and spices to the Southern ports of Charleston and New Orleans. Bananas, much like coconut, were at first an oddity, but quickly proliferated into the gastronomic nomenclature.
“I think of banana pudding as a dessert ‘casserole,’” said media personality, cookbook author and grande dame of Southern cooking Nathalie Dupree. “It can be toted from home to a church supper and is easy to make and easy to eat.” Like savory casseroles, spoon desserts both please and feed a crowd.
The introduction of pudding mixes, Cool Whip and snacks such as vanilla wafers to the market further modernized the trifle, and by the 1970s, scores of layered puddings began showing up in recipes, from the Junior League to the side of the Nilla Wafers box. One I remember best growing up was made with chocolate and vanilla pudding mixes, chocolate cookie crumbs, coconut, cream cheese and Cool Whip. My mother got the “recipe” from a friend, who had gotten it from a cookie box. It was outrageously delicious. They called it “The Next Best Thing to Robert Redford.”
"Pudding has a strong place in spoon desserts," said Virginia Willis, James Beard award-winning cookbook author, writer, and media personality. "The juxtaposition of crunchy with smooth and creamy is what makes spoon desserts so infinitely likable."
That, and the fact that in 2019 we can make them as easy or as difficult as we like, either completely from scratch; using mixes, cookies and Cool Whip; or something in between.
Pastry Cream
Use this classic pastry filling for the custard in the adjoining recipes for tiramisu, banana pudding and chocolate-and-butterscotch stacked puddings. Keep it on hand for any recipe that calls for vanilla custard or pastry cream — the cornstarch and eggs provide just enough gel for a jiggle, so the custard sets up perfectly and is neither too firm nor too soft.
Swiss Meringue
Swiss meringue makes a smooth, strong meringue similar to Italian meringue, but without all the fuss.
Old-Fashioned Banana Pudding
Most Southerners can recall some version of Banana Pudding as part of their childhood — either at home or as part of the dessert buffet at the local barbecue joint or meat-and-three. The debate in our household was always over whether it would be topped with meringue or whipped cream. It is a true trifle, in the sense that it offers the four main trifle components: custard (which became “pudding” in the South), cookie or cake, whipped cream or meringue, and fruit. While its exact origins are unknown, it has been around in some form since the late 1800s, chronicled in newspaper “receipts,” and popularized even more when vanilla wafers came into consumption in the 1920s, when the cookies replaced the original sponge cake in the recipe. By the 1940s, the Nabisco Co. began marketing its Nilla Wafers with a recipe on the box, and the accessibility of the cookies and bananas in the market made banana pudding a Southern-American staple. “Modern” versions use vanilla pudding mixes instead of homemade pastry cream. The pudding can be put together as soon as the pastry cream has cooled to room temperature, or the pastry cream can be made a day in advance and used when needed.
Strawberry Trifle
Trifles are close relatives of classic English tipsy pudding, and are often referred to as “zuppa inglese,” a term used by the Italians for a dessert of similar composition (sponge cake soaked with sherry, custard and fruit). Both desserts date back to the 1590s in their respective countries.
Butterscotch-Chocolate Stacked Puddings
These individual puddings are stacked in Mason jars so that, like a trifle, the layers can be seen from the outside. Boxed puddings can be used if desired, but real pastry cream creates the best flavor. Top the puddings with meringue and chocolate sprinkles, or if desired, whipped cream.
Easy Tiramisu
This Italian dessert has become immensely popular in the United States, where its flavor profile of custard, coffee syrup and ladyfingers has made it a huge success. Originally made with a zabaglione mixed with mascarpone cheese, it’s traditionally layered with savoiardi (ladyfingers) with the custard and coffee syrup (often a liqueur or sherry — like Marsala — is added to the syrup). This recipe simplifies the process by using a less temperamental pastry cream for the zabaglione.
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