The great debate….

…..rumbles on. The winner of the jubilee pudding competition was a trifle which completely fulfilled the brief and requirements of the judges. Yet there are still comments being bandied around on social media about the winning dish. Those of us of a certain age will remember trifle being made regularly, whether on Sundays or for special occasions. Certainly an iconic pudding. My mother-in-law made a delicious version with sherry soaking into the home made Madeira cake, fruit next, no jelly, then blancmange and cream. My mother always used a commercial jelly, half of the liquid to dissolve it was boiling water and the rest was made up by the juice from the tin of fruit. She then made thick custard before the cream and topped it with chocolate flake. So the winning trifle had lemon posset* on top of the lemon Swiss roll. It’s a favourite of the Queen, served at her wedding reception and apparently often made by Prince Philip – a nod to her past. The gelatin sheets were softened and added to the mandarin juice, while the fruit was pureed to create a coulis. Custard and then amaretti biscuits were next – I’d leave those out to be honest, and then cream on top with chocolate shards. If it was good enough for Mary Berry and the other judges, I’ll go along with that. Eminently copiable, with a few tweaks, to make at home. (*Lemon posset is warmed cream with caster sugar dissolved into it; cooled, then lemon juice and zest added. I’ve done something similar by stirring lemon curd into whipped cream 😉 )