Who knew the iconic TV series Friends could serve up so much cooking inspiration? If you've been spending the extra time at home during the coronavirus lockdown catching up on your favourite episodes, or you're rewatching the series in time for the Friends reunion, you've likely stumbled across some tasty (and some unusual) recipes. And one of the stand-out culinary concoctions that will go down in Friends history is Rachel Green's beef trifle.
What you'll need:
Italian ladyfingers, £9.99, Amazon
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There's no denying Rachel's attempt at the traditional English dessert was a disaster, considering it was a combination of Shepherd's pie and the traditional trifle ingredients - the unfortunate result of two pages of the cookbook being stuck together. We'll take Ross' word for it when he said: "It tastes like feet!". We've tweaked the recipe to remove the beef sautéed with peas and onions, and it would be perfect for anyone looking to create an easy yet show-stopping treat this summer.
READ: How to make Ross' iconic turkey sandwich - it's totally worth his meltdown
It may look very impressive, but the hardest part is making the custard from scratch and that can easily be substituted for shop-bought version. Take a look at how Rachel's trifle should have turned out, with all the tasty sponge fingers, custard, cream and jam…
INGREDIENTS
Custard (optional - can be bought instead)
- 200ml of double cream
- 700ml of whole milk
- 4 large egg yolks
- 3 tablespoons of cornflour
- 100g of caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Trifle
- 1 pack of sponge fingers (known as ladyfingers), cut in half
- 325g raspberry jam
- 350g fresh raspberries
- 2 large bananas, sliced
- 500ml of whipped cream
METHOD
Step One: Make the custard
- On a medium-low heat, heat the milk and cream and bring just to the boil. Remove from the heat while you prepare the other ingredients.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, cornflour and vanilla extract until pale. Gradually add the warm milk into the mixture.
- Pour the mixture back into the pan and whisk constantly on a low heat until thickened.
- Place in a bowl in the fridge to cool.
Step Two: Layer the ingredients
Rachel explained her method on the show: "First there’s a layer of ladyfingers, then a layer of jam, then custard, which I made from scratch, then raspberries, more ladyfingers, then beef sauteed with peas and onions, then a little more custard, and then bananas, and then I just put some whipped cream on top!”
Follow the same assembly process, but skip the meat layer. Garnish with the remaining raspberries and refrigerate the trifle for 1 to 2 hours before eating.
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