Freshly whipped cream, berries, strawberry jelly, custard and sponge! It’s time to make a berry merry Christmas trifle!

REMEMBER: always check with an adult before doing any baking

What you need:

Serves two (large indulgent portions).

Feel free to add more or less of the ingredients to suit you.

1. Sponge ( ¼ of a sponge sandwich).

2. Strawberry Jelly (1 pack).

3. Strawberry Jam.

4. Fresh or well thawed frozen Mixed Berries (approx 2 cups).

5. Fresh punnet of strawberries.

6. Tinned strawberries (approx 1 cup).

7. Custard powder 2 tbsp and 1 cup of milk.

8. Fresh cream (approx 1 cup)

What to do:

Prepare the Sponge…

We used a ready baked sponge cake from the supermarket; you could also use a jam swirl sponge.

1. Slice chunky sponge pieces that will fit neatly into your glass.

2. Spread each piece with jam.

3. Layer them into the bottom of your glass jam side up.

4. For extra decoration, slice strawberries length ways and slide them down the side of the glass.

Add Jelly and Fruit…

1. Prepare the jelly in a bowl, follow the instructions on the pack and set aside to cool.

2. Add tinned strawberries to the top of your sponge.
   These are sweet and soft so you can spread and squash some of them onto the jammy sponge.
   Pour some of the syrupy strawberry juice onto the sponge.

3. Spoon in the mixed berries and a few tablespoons of juice.

4. When it has cooled a little, add the jelly liquid and let it sink down past the berries into the sponge.
   Use the end of a spoon to open up little gaps for the jelly and berry juice to travel down into the sponge.
   We like the sponge to be well soaked with jelly and juice so that it sets, but experiment to create what you love best.

5. When the jelly is completely cool, put it in the fridge to set before moving to the next step.

Custard and Cream time…

1. You can cheat here and buy ready made custard from the supermarket. But the custard you make from powder sets really well which is perfect for trifles. It can be a bit challenging, so get a parent to help and follow the instructions on the custard powder box.
   Note: Making custard on the stove also gives you the option to make the custard whatever sweetness, consistency or flavour you like.
   We left out the sugar because the sponge is already sweet and we added a few drops of vanilla essence instead.

2. Pour the custard on top of the berries, smooth out and let it cool before covering and leaving in the fridge to set.
   Top Tip: Leaving it to set overnight is best, but you can just wait until the custard is set.

3. Whip the cream with a hand held whisk to keep it airy and light.
   Add a dollop to each desert and top with a strawberry rose or your own Christmas strawberry decoration!

Did you give it a go?

Send us a photo of your craft and you might find your Berry Merry Christmas Trifle featured in a future issue of Upstart magazine… AND win a prize!