I have a confession to make, I’ve always preferred to drink my gin rather than bake with it (Gin Queen? Yes. Domestic Goddess? No.) but with Negroni week coming up and looking for another way to indulge my obsession with this cocktail, I decided that the best no-cook option was the good old British trifle, well an Italian trifle ~ I present: The Negroni Trifle.

Yes, you can give me an Australian passport, but I will always choose trifle over Lamingtons (Sorry Aussie mates), particularly when it’s as boozy as this one.

The Negroni is made with 3 ingredients, Gin, Campari and Sweet vermouth. A traditional trifle has several components. Booze soaked sponge, jelly (fruit optional), custard and sweetened cream.

My challenge was to impart the essence of the Negroni into the trifle in as many ways as I could. I think I cracked it.

How to make a Negroni Trifle

As with all cocktails, feel free to make it your own. The measurements were determined by me (and Mr GQ), as we thoroughly taste-tested each stage. Yes, I took one for the team, this is SUCH a tough gig.

Negroni Trifle Layer One

For the booze soaked sponge, I added about one and a half sponge fingers to the bottom of the glass and poured over 30ml of sweet vermouth and 30ml of Campari. Leave to soak in thoroughly before moving on to the jelly layer.

Negroni Trifle Layer Two

I used a packet jelly and made the jelly up using half the liquid recommended on the packet, to avoid the alcohol interfering with the setting process. Once the jelly crystals were completely dissolved I added 60ml of Four Pillars Spiced Negroni gin, poured it over the Sweet vermouth and Campari soaked sponge and left to set.

Negroni Trifle Layer Three

While the jelly was setting I started on the custard. I wanted to tone down the vanilla flavour a little, so I stirred 30ml of Cointreau into 70g of custard. Once the jelly has set, I poured over the custard mixture and returned to the fridge to chill.

Negroni Trifle Layer Four

To make the sweetened cream, I added 30ml of Kangaroo Island Spirits Old Tom gin to 150ml of cream and whipped until it formed peaks. This was spooned over the top of the custard and chilled in the fridge for another hour.

Before serving I grated some orange peel on the top. I admired it briefly before Mr GQ and I attacked it with a spoon.

YUMMO.

And if you still prefer to drink your Negroni , remember Negroni Week 2019 is 24-30 June. and this year is the 100th birthday of this iconic drink.

I know you might be thinking, “great a whole week of drinking negroni”, but there is a little more to it than that.

It was launched in 2013 as a collaboration between Imbibe magazine and Campari as a way to celebrate one of the world’s most loved cocktails, but also to raise money for good causes worldwide. Starting with just 100 venues participating in 2013, it now boasts 10,000 venues participating. To date over 2 million USD has been raised for charity (each venue selects a charity of their choice from a list of charity partners.)

So there you are, enjoy a drink at participating bars and do some good while you are at it!

You can check out participating venues here.