As a young girl, if there ever was a big get-together at my nani’s house, I knew what would await me: the trifle. There was nothing that could have put me in a better mood — how can anything be more delicious than a sweet concoction of cake, custard, fruit and jelly? 

Expecting such a British dessert at a soirée in Pakistan might seem unusual at first. In fact, the trifle is deemed so British that the winner for the official pudding competition held this year for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee was a lemon and Swiss roll amaretti trifle.   

The dessert’s very English origins can be traced back as far back as the 16th century: the earliest mention of a recipe for ‘trifle’ was in the 1585 cookbook, The Good Huswifes Jewell. Earlier, trifles were cream mixed with fruit purées. The version we now know and love, with cake, pudding and fruit came about much later — with recipes for what we now call a ‘trifle’ appearing in the 1750s. Of course, the traditional English trifle features layers of wine-soaked sponge fingers or cake, custard and jelly or fruit. The Pakistani version swaps out the wine for jam sandwiched between pound cake and soaked in a fruit cocktail syrup (my nani’s go-to was pineapple), and she added both jelly and fruit. 

When and why Pakistan fell in love with trifle is more unclear — google ‘trifle’ and you’ll find a gazillion recipes on how to make a desi version of it. Part of it, perhaps, has to do with the colonial hangover and part of it with how easy and quick it is to make: the pound cake can be bought at a bakery, the pudding and jelly can be whipped up quickly using instant mixes and who doesn’t have some fruit lying around at home? 

Forget gelato, this trifle-in-a-cake is the best dessert export from Italy

Of course, the best bit of the trifle — at least for me — was the pound cake and jam. As a young girl helping my nani out in assembling the trifle, there was nothing I liked more than spreading jam on a piece of pound cake and gobbling it down when my grandma wasn’t looking! Sadly, it wasn’t until I was an adult that I came across a version that can be best described as trifle-in-a-cake: Zuppa Inglese. 

The origins of this Italian dessert are unknown, with some claiming it can be traced back to the 1500s, and others that it was created in the court of Maria Luisa of Austria in the 19th century. A more likely explanation is that English expats during the Victorian era created an Italian version of the trifle using local ingredients and that the dessert evolved from there to what it is now. Regardless of its origins, there is nothing more scrumptious or satisfying than digging into a piece of Zuppa Inglese on a hot, summer day. 

Zuppa Inglese means ‘English Soup’. Of course, it is anything but. Ideal for a summer soirée, this delicious dessert will stay fresh in the fridge for up to a week and serve 10-12 people. Feel free to switch up the jams and fruit depending on the season. Surprise your guests with a novel twist on the trifle. Buon appetito!

Zuppa Inglese 

Ingredients

For sponge cake 

9 eggs
1 and 1/2 cups sugar 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
1 and 1/2 cup flour 
4 tablespoon unsalted butter
A pinch of salt 

For Assembly

1 can of any fruit cocktail or a cup of fruit syrup
2-3 cups of seasonal fruit, very finely chopped 
Strawberry jam and/or any other you prefer 
Sponge cake, store-bought or made with the recipe given below.

Method 

Preheat the oven to 350°C. Grease two 9x2 inch cake pans with butter and set aside. Separate the eggs into yolks and whites. In a heatproof bowl combine the yolks and one cup of sugar with an electric beater or whisk. Boil water in a saucepan until it simmers. Place the bowl over the saucepan, whisking/mixing until the sugar is completely dissolved. Take the bowl off the heat. Let it cool. Then add vanilla essence and salt. Beat well until the mixture is pale and thick. In a separate bowl, mix the egg whites and the remaining half cup of sugar. Beat with an electric mixer until glossy peaks form. 

Using a spatula, fold the egg-white mixture into the egg-yolk mixture, adding a little at a time. Then fold in the flour followed by the butter. Mix slowly until just blended in. Divide the cake batter between the two pans and bake at 350°C for 30 minutes or until a fork inserted into the cake comes out clean. Take pans out and let the cake cool.  

Assembly

This is the fun part. Chop any fruits or add jams that are seasonal — I did mango, peach, and strawberries. Flip the pans over to remove the cooled cakes. Trim the top of the cakes. Cut each cake in half (across) to create four layers. Pour or brush the syrup from the fruit can and spread onto the cake, letting the cake soak in the syrup. 

Then build the layers. Spread strawberry jam on the first layer and then sprinkle with finely chopped strawberries. Then top with a layer of the sponge cake. Repeat the above steps for the next two layers with fruits and jams of your preference. Soak the top layer of the cake with fruit syrup and then cover the entire cake with a thin layer of whipped cream. Chill in the fridge for a couple of hours before serving.

Published in Dawn, EOS, August 28th, 2022