Every time I want to make an easy dessert for a fancy dinner
I immediately think of some sort of meringue pavlova or trifle. I get excited because in my mind, it
takes almost zero hands-on time to make meringues and throw some fruit on. But then every time, without fail, I realize I
don’t have time to let the meringues dry out.

In the south where the humidity in the kitchen is often
almost as bad as it is outside, I almost never attempt to make them outside of
Winter. I usually buy them from the store. They’re still beautiful and impressive
looking, and you don’t have to reserve your oven for hours on end.

Individual trifles or anything with meringues will fancy
up any dessert tray. I made these while I was in England because they sell
custard in the grocery stores. It’s probably a good thing US stores don’t sell
pre-made custard because I honestly would eat it on everything. It’s deliciously
rich on its own, and mixed with the cream cheese it gets a smooth cream cheese
flavor as well. If you live in England and can buy pre-made custard, this recipe
is a breeze. Not to fear for those everywhere else though, you can make
homemade custard which is also delicious. If you’re really pressed for time, you can sacrifice a bit of the flavor (though it will still be great) and make it with instant vanilla pudding.

The original recipe calls for raspberries and Cointreau. A
true trifle is made with Cointreau, but if you want to leave it out that’s fine.
You can also sub in sliced strawberries for the raspberries. I prefer raspberries, but the pictures show the strawberry ones I made. As for whether to use meringue nests, like I’ve shown in the pictures, or glasses with a more traditional trifle look, that’s up to you. Individual glasses allows you to add more custard and it’s likely the cheaper option. I think Nests are just as pretty and are easier to serve if you’re short on glasses. I doubled the recipe both times I made these because I was feeding a crowd. I used glasses once and nests once.

At the end of the day, this is really me suggesting that you
all give trifle-making a try when you want to impress people. I’ve had them
with custard, ice cream, cool whip, homemade whipped cream, etc. The layering
piece is up to you, but I strongly suggest this custard because it is heavenly!

Enjoy!

Strawberry or Raspberry Meringue Trifle
Recipe slightly adapted from Taste AU

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups-2 cups Raspberries (2 x 125g punnets raspberries)
• 
  2 tbs Cointreau liqueur (optional)
• 
  55g (1/4 cup) caster sugar
• 
  8-ounces cream cheese (250g)at room temperature
• 1 cup (250ml) bought vanilla custard* 
• Meringues, coarsely crushed

* If you live in places, like the US, that do not sell custard in grocery stores, you can do one of two things. The ideal thing is to make homemade custard. I’ve included a recipe below. If you’re not up for this, follow the direction on a box of Instant Vanilla pudding. Once pudding is ready and chilled, proceed to the cream cheese step.

Directions:

1. Combine the raspberries, Cointreau and 1 tablespoon of the sugar in a bowl. Set aside for 30 minutes to macerate.
2. Step 2
   Meanwhile, use an electric beater to beat the cream cheese, custard and remaining sugar in a bowl until smooth.
3. Step 3
   Divide three-quarters of the
   raspberry mixture among six 250ml (1-cup) capacity serving glasses. Top
   with the cream cheese mixture and meringue. Top with the remaining
   raspberry mixture. 
   If you are making meringue nests instead of trifles, fill each nest with a teaspoon of raspberry mixture (depending on the size of the nest). Next, add 2+ teaspoons custard mixture, making sure the custard incorporates into the raspberries. Think of it like making sure the ice cream gets to the bottom of an ice cream cone. Top each nest with another teaspoon or two of berries. Sprinkle crushed meringues on top for decoration.

Jamie Oliver’s Proper English Custard
Recipe from Jamie Oliver (on My Kitchen from Scratch)

Ingredients (yields
about 8 cups/2 L)

Method: