I love this recipe:

English Trifle

Angel Food or Pound Cake
1 large Strawberry Jello
2 small instant jello pudding (French vanilla)
1 package frozen strawberries (large)

Slice cake into 2" pieces and line dish or pan.
Make jello using 1 cup less water.
Add strawberries to jello and pour over cake--set in freezer until firm.
Make pudding, let set til just pouring consistency; pour over firm jello and cake.
Let set; when pudding is firm, top with whipped cream.

(Can add 2 sliced bananas to the pudding before it gets firm.)

I've made it on the fly with pound cake, pudding (instant or cooked), sliced strawberries and whipped cream. Delicious! I don't think I've had it with jello.

I make a raspberry Tiramisu that is a Giada recipe. It is super easy, super fast and looks beautiful in a trifle bowl.

I make a "real" English trifle every year at Christmas time. Made with madeleines or lady fingers, Byrd's English custard, raspberry jam, bananas and sherry. And topped with whipped cream. It is a family favorite and gets requested every year without fail. I've tried other variations, using summer fruit (peaches and blueberries) and even a chocolate version, but they do not have the same appeal with my family as the traditional English version.

btw, using a pudding mix or jello would be a huge no-no with my guys!!!

I've tossed together a few very quickly - so versatile when using any kind of 'cakey' part....angel food, pound cake, brownies. I've used a cooked pudding but not from scratch....jello pudding, box. Whipped cream and some fruit, comes out pretty since I do have a trifle bowl.

If you're following an actual recipe and making a pumpkin custard base, may be a little more work but I'll bet you'll be happy with the results. A great and pretty treat that can be mostly made ahead of time.

My problem with taking one someplace is my trifle bowl. Footed. Can be tippy in the car. For years I had the box the bowl came in, then it got too rough looking to keep any longer. The bowl will end up in a cooler with towels pressed around it to keep it upright.

Gardengal, now that you've embarrassed me with your more authentic version (LOL) - where do you get Byrd's English custard? I see powdered from Amazon, is that what you mean?

This is my Favorite recipe. I slice the pears though

Roasted Pear and Amaretto Trifle

Ingredients

Pastry Cream

• 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

• 1 1/4 cups whole milk

• 1 1/4 cups sugar

• 4 large egg yolks

• 1/2 cup all purpose flour

• 2 tablespoons amaretto or other almond liqueur

• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

• Pinch of salt

(I use Brid’s custard powder)

Pears

• 8 firm but ripe Bosc pears (about 3 1/4 pounds), peeled, halved lengthwise, cored

• 1/3 cup sugar

• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

• 56 (about) day-old soft ladyfingers (from about three 3-ounce packages)

• *1 1/2 cups coarsely crushed amaretti cookies (Italian macaroons)* or almond macaroons (about 4 ounces) (I don’t use)

• 3/4 cup apricot fruit spread (100% spreadable fruit) or apricot preserves (I use any red berry jam)

• 4 tablespoons brandy (crucial)

• 4 tablespoons amaretto or other almond liqueur (crucial)

• 2 cups chilled whipping cream

• 1/4 cup powdered sugar

• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

• 1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted

• Fresh mint sprigs (optional)

Preparation

For pastry cream:
Combine cream and milk in medium saucepan; bring to simmer. Remove from heat. Whisk sugar, egg yolks, flour, amaretto, vanilla, and salt in large bowl until smooth (mixture will be thick and pasty). Gradually whisk hot cream mixture into yolk mixture. Return mixture to saucepan. Whisk over medium heat until pastry cream boils, thickens and is smooth, about 6 minutes. Transfer pastry cream to bowl. Press plastic wrap directly onto surface of pastry cream; refrigerate overnight.

For pears:
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 400°F. Toss pear halves, 1/3 cup sugar, and lemon juice in large bowl. Place pears, cut side down, on heavy large rimmed baking sheet; pour sugar mixture from bowl over pears. Roast pears until tender and golden brown in spots, turning occasionally, about 40 minutes. Cool. Cut pears into 1/2-inch pieces; place in bowl along with any juices from baking sheet. (Pears can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.)

Arrange 13 to 14 ladyfingers in bottom of 8-inch-diameter, 3-quart trifle bowl, trimming to fit tightly. Sprinkle 1/2 cup crushed amaretti cookies over. Dot with 1/4 cup fruit spread. Top with 1 cup roasted pears. Drizzle 1 tablespoon brandy and 1 tablespoon amaretto over. Spread 1 cup pastry cream over. Repeat layering 2 more times with ladyfingers, amaretti cookies, fruit spread, pears, brandy, amaretto, and pastry cream. Top with 13 to 14 ladyfingers; sprinkle with remaining brandy and amaretto. Spread remaining pastry cream over top. Cover and refrigerate until cold, about 4 hours.

Beat cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla in large bowl until peaks form. Spread 1 1/2 cups whipped cream over top of trifle. Spoon remaining whipped cream into pastry bag fitted with medium star tip. Pipe whipped-cream rosettes around top of trifle. Garnish with sliced almonds and mint sprigs, if desired. Refrigerate up to 6 hours.

* Amaretti cookies are available at Italian markets and some supermarkets

Yes, it is a powdered custard. So not quite as truly authentic as making your own custard but sure does save time!! And tastes just the same. The better grocery stores in my area carry it and also a weird little British gift shop in town that imports and stocks some of my favorite British food items..........with a lot of touristy tchotchkes :-))

My SIL is English. She makes hers from scratch and it is so delicious that I wouldn't dream of making it myself. Nor do I enjoy any other versions. For my taste buds, it's the homemade custard that makes it.

Thank you....I think you are something like 140 miles drive give or take, so I'll add some to my upcoming Amazon order. We don't have a 'better' grocery store ;0) Love the little culinary tips, I'm grateful for any I pick up.

I do a sherry trifle - all from scratch (including sometimes the cake).

A "real" English trifle shouldn't contain anything at all that comes out of a box. Mandatory ingredients in a recipe should include real whipped cream, a healthy amount of a decent sherry (though I've also had it with rum and it wasn't bad), strawberries and optionally some other berries too, cake and from scratch pastry cream or something custard-y. If going through all the work to layer it and make it pretty, the added effort to use real ingredients will make a huge difference.

English trifle here sometimes has a layer of cubed jello (usually red) in between the sponge cake pieces layer and the custard layer. The top is traditionally decorated with red glace cherries and green angelica pieces.

Oh my we grew up on trifle! LOL It was a go-to dessert for my mother to make. There was no recipe, just layers of whatever she had on hand. Some of the ingredients she used were

-cake (pound or sponge)
-cool whip
-instant pudding
-jello
-fruit cocktail
-canned pineapple

Not all those ingredients in the one trifle, but maybe fruit cocktail one time and pineapple another time. I prefer it without jello. My SIL makes hers with real cooked custard instead of instant pudding.

We love a fruited trifle. So easy and cn be made the day before to let the flavors meld.

Here is mine, from the bottom up:

Plain pound cake

Custard or vanilla pudding(cheat and use snack-pack if pushed for time)

Fresh/frozen fruit, strawberry, blueberry, kiwi, peaches, cherry, you pick your favorites

A sprinkle of chocolate chips (dark please)

Pound cake

pudding/custard

fruit

chocolate chips

whipped cream

pound cake and another layer if you have room in the bowl

Top with remaining custard and some chocolate chips and fruit as a decoration.

If the spirit moves me, I may sprinkle some orange liquor on the pound cake.

"A "real" English trifle shouldn't contain anything at all that comes out of a box. "

I'm not sure I'd necessarily agree with that. British cooks are just as inclined to take some shortcuts for convenience sake as are American ones and you will find many modern day recipes for "traditional English trifle" that specify using custard powders and 'sponge fingers' (aka lady fingers) or purchased Madeira cake. In fact the BBC cooking website (BBC Good Foods) lists several with various shortcuts like refrigerated tubbed custard and jelly rolls. But no cool whip, no jello and no instant pudding :-)

Morz8, I have found the Byrd's custard at Safeway where they may stock "foreign" food items but probably not all stores carry the same stock so YMMV :-)

Until the UK joined what was then the EEC and had greater exposure to/from the rest of Europe, it had in the minds of many the WORST food in Europe. Unless bland, greasy, overcooked food is your thing. Standard advice back in the 70s and 80s for finding restaurants in London was to go to Soho and look for a Chinese or Indian place or other foreign food and avoid local restaurants at all costs.

I give the English credit for creating trifle (which isn't all that different from strawberry shortcake and many pastry concoctions common on the Continent) but not for execution. Same for the other areas of Britain. Food there has improved from the few decades of foreign influence but the local traditions are still hideous. Unless local favorites like jellied eel, steak and kidney (yes real kidneys) pie, haggis or baked beans on toast, among others, are your idea of good food.

Have you ever heard this one:

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

In Heaven: The Cooks Are French,
The Policemen Are English,
The Mechanics Are German,
The Lovers Are Italian
And The Bankers Are Swiss.

In Hell: The Cooks Are English,
The Policemen Are German,
The Mechanics Are French,
The Lovers Are Swiss
And The Bankers Are Italian.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Friends don't let friends use most English or British recipes and also not most food products.

That's cute, Snidely!

Hmmmmm.......being British, I could take offense to that :-) But I won't as my own experience with British food served in restaurants there tends to support that contention. However, British pub food is usually excellent, a full British breakfast is superb if highly caloric, high tea is an event and a taste treat not to be missed and in my personal experience, many British home cooks are quite good. Both my mum and aunt were excellent cooks.

I think the primary issue is that British food is pretty different from standard American fare and that includes some of the meat products they favor. I'm sure I would induce waves of Internet nausea if I reported on some of the delicacies from there I quite like :-) But a well prepared steak and kidney pie is excellent!! As is Lancashire hotpot, roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, shepherd's pie and bangers and mash. And most British baked good are delicious and often rather complicated. Where they tend to fail is in the preparation of vegetables, which are invariably cooked to death.

btw, British cheeses are some of the best on the planet!!

Gardengal - DH and I were in London in May and sometimes ate at the Prince Alfred Hotel/pub where I had a cheese dish that was just scrumptious. As near as I can figure out, it was a Croque Monsieur and was baked in a cast iron frying pan and then finished under the broiler. Lightly sprinkled with Worchestershire (?) sauce - yummy! ETA - Yikes, realized my post is OT. Apologies!

stacey, Croque Monsieurs or something styled after it (minus the Worchestershire sauce) are decidedly of French origin and probably wouldn't have been found in an English pub 25 years ago.

gardengal, we've had many home cooked meals in England and elsewhere in the British Isles at the homes of business colleagues, friends and friends of friends when visiting there. The home cooked meals we've had weren't in general more agreeable or less greasy and overcooked than what I've found in restaurants. If anything, I think restaurants have been better. Pub food can be sometimes good but oftentimes greasy too. I lived several years in a nearby country. If you have more local knowledge than I do and if your experiences and recollections are different, fine.

The Full English Breakfast is multiple different fried items, including fried white bread, right? How is that ever considered good eats, by anyone who has experience outside of habitual junk food eating?

That said although I have no trifle recipes of my own to contribute I will be happy to sample and comment on any others may wish to prepare.

Well, some people enjoy the occasional fry up of eggs, bacon, sausages, tomatoes, mushrooms, baked beans, and black pudding. The fried bread is optional but delicious (if you've ever had a bull's eye egg that's fried bread). I wouldn't advocate it every day but as a once in a while treat it's certainly tastier than junk food.

Classic British cooking (pre WW2 style before rationing destroyed a generation's cooking skills and then replaced them with canned, frozen and pre-prepared foods) with honest, fresh home grown ingredients can be superb.

bifenton - Sounds yummy. How about some details?

I only made one once. When my daughter was in kindergarten, they were asked to bring a food that represented their family's country of origin. My father was English, so I made a trifle. I don't remember much about it except I didn't use sherry, which most of the recipes I found called for.

My pumpkin spice trifle was ok, it was a bit dry.