Trifle with Fresh Fruit

During Elizabethan times, a trifle was a simple syllabub—that is to say, a dessert consisting of whipped cream flavored with sugar, sherry or Madeira wine, lemon, and cinnamon. Gradually, macaroons soaked in wine, ratafias (macaroons with the addition of butter), and biscuits were added. This variation became extremely popular in eighteenth-century England. Eventually, custard was used between the layers of macaroons and biscuits, and the dessert was then topped with the syllabub. This evol