I really dislike custard so it’s just as well that this old family recipe is free of custard and uses a completely different method of replacing custard with something much more fluffy, light and yummy.
My mum is a second world war baby and the pudding dish we use instead of custard has several names. You might come across it called any of these:
- Milk Jelly.
- Jelly Fluff.
- Evaporated Milk Jelly.
- Jelly Mousse.
- Carnation Milk Jelly.
- Jelly Whip.
It sets much faster than regular jelly so be prepared when you’re making your puddings with it. You can make it without whizzing it in the mixer and it will look like a cloudy jelly – but for adding to trifle, it works much better with the air bubbles to make it much lighter and fluffier.
Trifle with custard to me is just not trifle. I made the mistake with this Christmas trifle, of letting a child add the hundreds and thousands so it’s a bit heavy handed in the middle with nothing around the outside. We didn’t care as it tasted amazing. It’s quick and easy to make and no e-numbers anywhere. You could use fresh fruit, but for speed, I used tinned.
I use a fairly large bowl for this recipe as it makes more than you realise. If you only have a smaller bowl, you could make a couple of small individual trifles in glasses as well.
- 1 tin Raspberries
- 1 tin Sliced Peaches
- 3 Raspberry Jellies
- 400g Double or Whipping Cream
- 1 tin Approx 400g Evaporated Milk
- 6 - 8 Sponge Fingers
- Hundreds and Thousands
- The first step is simply to get your bowl out and pop the sponge fingers in the bottom. Drain the tin of raspberries and peaches and pop them in with the sponge fingers.
- Melt 2 Jellies in the microwave with three tablespoons of water. When they are fully melted, make it up to just under two pints of cold water and mix it well in. If you want a stiffer jelly, just use a little less water. Pour the jelly into the bowl with the fruit and sponge fingers. Let it set for a couple of hours. If you want it ready faster, you could pop it in the freezer for half an hour.
- When your jelly is set, get ready for your jelly fluff. Add a tin of evaporated milk (I used light evaporated milk for this years trifle) to a mixer and put it on low for a few minutes. You can do this by hand, but the jelly fluff just won't be so fluffy.
- Melt one jelly with a tablespoon of water in a jug in the microwave while the mixer is going and then add it to the evaporated milk in the mixer. Turn the mixer up and whizz until it is light and fluffy in the bowl. Leave it for around 10 minutes before pouring it onto your jelly. If it gets a little too thick, just whizz it for a minute.
- Once the jelly fluff is set, it is simply a case of whipping up your cream, spreading it on the top and popping some decoration on the top.
we use to make what you have used for custard years ago, your pint of jelly all of a sudden fills the whole room just about, it expands like nothing on earth, but is delicious.
thanks for sharing, and I like the decorations just in the middle
It’s amazing just how much you get from one jelly and a tin of evaporated milk. Kids love it.
Ah, takes me back, used to love Jelly Fluff! Yum. Thanks!
Wow ! This dish looks delicious. Thanks for sharing its recipe.