The Most Ridiculous Acronym For The Silliest Phobia! But it's so real for me! Much like my hot cross bun fetish around Easter, I can literally and figuratively smell and taste trifle weeks before Christmas and the cravings become overwhelming! I know I drive 
My phobia stems from an experience, many many years ago. I had been slaving over Christmas lunch for the entire night with about hours of sleep and being so tired at Christmas lunch that I didn't make it to dessert. I put a nice bowl of trifle aside for myself, thinking I would have some when I woke up. But my EX husband ate it!!! Now you can understand my fear and why he's my ex 🤣🤣🤣
This year, as I always do, we went overboard with the food: which you are supposed to do so you can munch leftovers for days, but on Christmas eve, we all ate so much and it was so late that we didn't make it to dessert.
So just after present time on Christmas morning, I fed my children not one, but two bowls of trifle for breakfast! Considering how boozy I make my trifles, it's no wonder we all went back to bed 🤣🤦♀️I blame my Grandmother for passing down this tradition! hehehe
This year I made three trifles, procuring litchis and cherries at ridiculous prices, and adding mango to the tinned peaches.
The trifles were actually the first thing I started prepping, as all the ingredients need to settle for at least 24 hours before serving.
I used store bought sponge and didn't even bother slicing it the way I normally do, which I regret now. The layers were a it too thick, not that anyone else noticed but me. I also regret that I don't have the right sized trifle bowls and the chocolate one turned into a volcano while it was setting and covered everything in (delicious) chocolate goop. There was only so much I could do about bending the laws of physics to get the layers in.
I will have to hunt for some new bowls in the new year.
So, although I made the two vanilla trifles for my mom and the chocolate trifle for us, I sort of wish I had done it the other way around as the chocolate/ black forest one was to DIE for.
I went with original Amarula this year and it worked well in both the vanilla and chocolate trifles. Obviously the sponges were different: 2 vanilla and one chocolate, but so were the custards: also two vanilla and one chocolate box. I buy ready made, pouring custard because I REALLY couldn't be arsed to make my own, and THAT is the golden secret of the trifle.
I peeled and pitted the litchis and pitted the cherries and basically just threw in three tins of peach slices and cut up 3 mangos. It was ALOT of fruit, hence my physics conundrum. I tried to keep as many cherries as I could for the chocolate trifle and the more tropical fruit for the vanilla trifles, but allowed some mixing to occur.
I made the jelly long in advance: apple, berry and whatever the yellow one was. I know some people make the jelly mixture and pour it in perfect layers into the trifle bowl, but I have ever had the patience. Plus it all tastes the same!
On Christmas morning, 
I ate my last bowl of trifle last night sigh so hear is to another year until trifle fever hits again :p
