In 1755 the first trifle recipe was published in Scotland by Elizabeth Cleland in her book A New and Easy Method of Cookery. She includes an apple purée made by first roasting the apples, then mixing the soft flesh with sugar and egg white as the final layer of her trifle. She is the first to publish a trifle recipe using stewed fruit. Another recipe from across the Scottish borders came from Susanna MacIver’s Cookery & Pastry in 1786 and also suggests using apples. Mrs MacIver ran a cookery school in Edinburgh with Mrs Frazer who also gives us a trifle recipe in her book, The Practice of Cookery, Pastry & Confectionery, in 1795. Her recipe is like no other trifle of that period. She instructs to make a sponge cake first, in a separate recipe that contains 12 eggs, 450 g (1 lb) of sugar and 225 g (8 oz) of flour, seasoned with the grated rind of 3 or 4 lemons.
