Old English Trifle -- The Week June Learned Our Faces

Veteran's Day this week. Biscuits and gravy for Dad. He ate it and said good biscuits and that was the right conversation. I made enough for Cole and Emma, who came by in the afternoon with June, now two months old corrected. June spent twenty minutes being passed between Colleen and me and then Tom, who came over later. She studied each face with the specific attention of a person who is learning faces, cataloging what they mean. She hasn't decided about Tom yet. He's waiting. He said: Babies take their time about things like this. He has a good theory about infants and it sounds like his theory about mules.

The mule book is in production — the publisher received the manuscript last week and has started the editorial process. It should be out next summer. I'll write another foreword, which Tom asked for without asking, just said: Same thing as last time if you want.' I want. The two books will sit together on the shelf in his house and eventually on shelves in stranger's houses and in libraries and that's a fifty-year craftsman's right use of his final years: getting the knowledge out of his head and onto pages where it survives him.

The sixth magazine column is due in December — winter cooking again, my second visit to the theme. This time I want to write about the soup-as-infrastructure idea: the stock in the freezer, the way each week's roast chicken becomes the next week's stock becomes the next week's soup, the closed loop of the kitchen that wastes nothing. The invisible architecture of a kitchen that runs right. I know the piece. I just have to write it.

Made a French lentil soup Sunday that I'll eat all week. Simple, thick, a little Dijon at the end for brightness. Monday through Friday soup. That's the category it lives in and that's the right category.

It was that kind of week — Dad at the table, Cole and Emma at the door, June being passed from arms to arms, Tom staying later than he planned. When a week runs that full, the kitchen wants to do something worthy of it, and a trifle is exactly that: layers made ahead, a bowl that feeds a crowd, something that looks like the effort it is. I made this one for the people coming and going, and it held up through all of them.

Old English Trifle

Prep Time: 30 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 45 minutes plus 2 hours chilling | Servings: 10–12

Ingredients

• 1 prepared pound cake or sponge cake (about 10 oz), cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1/2 cup dry sherry or cream sherry
• 1 cup raspberry or strawberry jam
• 2 cups fresh or thawed frozen raspberries or strawberries
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 cup heavy cream, divided
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds, for garnish
• Maraschino cherries or fresh berries, for garnish

Instructions

1. Make the custard. In a medium saucepan, whisk together egg yolks, granulated sugar, and cornstarch until smooth. Gradually whisk in the milk and 1/2 cup of the heavy cream. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the custard thickens and just begins to bubble, about 10–12 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla, and press plastic wrap directly onto the surface. Refrigerate until cool, at least 1 hour.
2. Prepare the cake layer. Arrange the cake cubes in a single layer across the bottom of a large trifle bowl or deep glass serving dish. Drizzle the sherry evenly over the cake and let it absorb for 5 minutes.
3. Add jam and fruit. Spread the jam over the soaked cake cubes, then scatter the raspberries or strawberries evenly over the jam layer.
4. Add the custard. Pour the cooled custard over the fruit layer, smoothing it to the edges of the bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to overnight.
5. Whip the cream. Just before serving, beat the remaining 1/2 cup heavy cream with the powdered sugar until soft peaks form. Spread or pipe the whipped cream over the top of the trifle.
6. Garnish and serve. Scatter toasted slivered almonds over the whipped cream and top with cherries or fresh berries. Serve directly from the bowl, spooning down through all the layers.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 320 | Protein: 5g | Fat: 14g | Carbs: 42g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 140mg