Christmas Trifle

Asked by jameagher. Answered on 11th December 2011

Full question

Dear Nigella, I would love to serve your Boozy British Trifle (Christmas, p42) as the centerpiece of my Christmas dessert table this year, but a number of my guests are allergic to nuts. Thus the lovely pistachio garnish is off-limits. Could you suggest a similarly glorious, gorgeous, nut-free alternative? Many thanks, Jennifer M.

Our answer

The Boozy British Trifle has a mixture of crystallized rose petals and chopped pistachios for a topping as the colour combination of green and deep pink/red is one of Nigella's favourites at Christmas. If your guests are allergic to nuts then you could vary the decoration, for example by using green sprinkles instead of the pistachios, or even just using something like miniature holly and berry sprinkles (for examples see the link below).

For a very retro trifle you could use red glace cherries and green candied angelica. This was a very popular decoration for trifles in the 1960's and 1970's and the angelica is usually cut into small diamonds and arranged so that each cherry half is sitting nestled between two angelica "leaves". Unfortunately as angelica has slipped out of fashion it is not easy to find but you may be able to buy it from cake decorating specialists and we have found some on-line sources (see links below).

Sprinkles

http://www.janeasher.com/sugarlist.php?cat=Seasonal&subcat=Christmas%20Edible%20Decorations

Angelica

http://www.wiltonwholefoods.com/candied-angelica-100g-p-20.html

http://www.melburyandappleton.co.uk/angelica-candied-crystallised---75g-4439-p.asp

http://www.markethallfoods.com/products.php?product=Candied-Angelica-from-Lilamand

US and Australia

http://www.britishsupermarketworldwide.com/acatalog/info_34021.html