A Brief History of the Christmas Trifle

Who doesn’t love a trifle! With the probability that Christmas Day will be sweltering, Australian hosts are opting to serve chilled desserts like pavlova and trifle in addition to, or even instead of, the traditional hot Christmas fruit mince pudding. Originating in England, the history of trifle is a rags to riches story. Originally regarded as a way of using up left over cake and fruit, the first known reference to a trifle-like dessert dates back to the time of Elizabeth 1 and by the 18th century it reigned supreme as a special dessert to be carried grandly carried out as the finishing touch for many a family’s Sunday lunch. In this era of heightened calorie and cholesterol consciousness trifle consumption tends to be reserved for special occasions like Christmas. A joy to behold, our Christmas black forest trifle combines decadent layers of chocolate sponge, cherry jelly and chocolate ganache smothered with whipped mascarpone, Dutch cocoa and dark chocolate shavings. Yum! And as if that wasn’t ravishing enough, we’ve topped it with rows of glossy, deeply-red, fresh cherries. Finally, our gift to you. You get to keep the bowl. Serve as the grand finale to a seated dinner or lunch or as part of a grazing table. Reserve your black forest trifle now for your Peter Rowland event or order on-line. Each trifle serves 10 people.

For more information, visit our Festive Feasting page

Photography by Blake Heywood