A trifling bit of dessert
If you want to make a period-correct dessert for your Jane Austen’s Birthday celebration on December 16 (you ARE having a Jane Austen’s Birthday celebration, aren’t you? Of course you are), why not make a trifle? Especially since the Bangor Daily News has so kindly provided a recipe! The Raspberry Vanilla Trifle sounds absolutely yummy. And we liked the Jane Austen connection:
Visions of sugarplums may dance in your head when you think of holiday sweets. But when it comes to Christmas desserts, I like to think of Jane Austen. (Go with me here.) I picture her at Chawton Cottage in Hampshire, her hair up in simple curls and her dress down to her ankles. There is snow outside on the English landscape. Maybe there is a crackling fire and a Christmas tree. In my dream, she has just finished writing for the day and, as a reward, she strolls into the kitchen, where a gift left by her best friend, Martha Lloyd, is waiting for her. It’s a trifle. A trifle!
One quibble from Professor Mags: hate to crush anyone’s lovely vision, but it’s highly doubtful that there was a Christmas tree at Chawton Cottage during Jane’s lifetime. Christmas trees were not unknown in England at that time, but typically they were in the homes of German immigrants, as it is a German tradition, not an Anglo-Saxon one (like the Yule log) or a Celtic one (like mistletoe and holly). A royal German immigrant — Prince Albert — brought the tradition to Queen Victoria’s household in the 1840s and English society followed their lead.
(Yep, this is on the test, too. ;-))
P.S. Anybody ever had Death By Chocolate, which is more or less a trifle? It’s sublime, and much lighter than you might think. Also, try substituting Kahlua for the coffee…mmmm!
December 13th, 2005 at 8:52 pm
Don’t forget a little bit of sherry.