“Cover the bottom of your dish or bowl with Naples biscuits broke

in pieces and ratafia cakes; just wet them all through with sack,
then make a good boiled custard, not too thick, and when cold
pour it over it, then put a syllabub over that. You may garnish it
with ratafia cakes, currant jelly, and flowers, and strew different
colored nonpareils over it.” (Hannah Glasse)
A Trifle Fill a dish with
biscuit finely broken, flat
cake, wet with wine, then
pour a good boiled custard,
(not too thick), and put a
syllabub over that; garnish
with jelly and flowers. 
“That most wonderful object
of domestic art called trifle
with its charming confusion
of cream and cake and
almonds and jam and jelly
and wine and cinnamon and
froth.”
 (Oliver Wendell Holmes, American
author)