The humble trifle has been declared the official dessert for King Charles III's Coronation weekend of celebrations. There's even a special Coronation recipe for those feeling adventurous enough to try and make their own.
But for many, a trip to the supermarket for a wobbling pot of custard, fruit and cream joy is probably more likely on the cards as the nation prepares for a party.
The official Big Coronation Lunch menu includes a trifle recipe by Michelin Star chef Adam Sandling who has come up with a zingy strawberry and ginger trifle. But when our colleagues at the Mirror had a go at making it the ingredients came to a hefty £25.
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Naturally, you can buy a ready made pud for a lot cheaper than that, so we headed to five of the UK's biggest supermarkets to see what they have in store, and which we would crown the best for the Coronation weekend.
There was a sad lack of many "Coronation special" trifles on the shelves when we headed out to buy them earlier this week, and definitely no strawberry and ginger ones. So instead we picked the most premium type of trifle we could find at Asda, Aldi, Tesco, M&S and Morrison's.
Only Tesco was doing its own Coronation limited edition trifle when we visited the shops earlier this week - a regal raspberry and peach version. Its celebration dessert came in a massive box and was also priced at the rather princely sum of £9.
Elsewhere it was traditional strawberry or raspberry trifles that were available to buy.
I purchased five different trifles, and given there's a lot of pud to taste here, I roped in the wider family to assist with the taste test. Here's how we got on with each one.
Tesco Finest Coronation trifle - £9
This large raspberry and peach concoction comes in a large presentation box emblazoned with "The Coronation of King Charles III flags". But the box was so large I could barely fit it in my fridge.
It says it serves 8, but the price tag is a pretty giant £9 (reduced to £8 if you have a Tesco Clubcard). But it is an impressive looking dessert when I pulled it out of the box.
Topped with chocolate curls and stars and dusted with sugar it’s pretty as a picture. Served in a large plastic tub it would look great as the centrepiece of a table with it’s clearly defined layers.
It was a bit of shock when I dug into it and a bright orange custard emerged, which had a real zing to it. This was an unusual trifle and it felt very decadent with the chocolate on top, and personally I was a fan.
But if I’m honest it tasted more like a dessert than a trifle. Which may be what you’re after if you’re pushing the boat out this year.
Be warned if you have more traditional trifle-lovers in your household they might be horrified - like my in-laws who I got on board to test this, who were less than impressed.
Comments included: "If it's a trifle it should be a sponge with jelly and custard and cream - it’s a basic sort of thing." While another was “It is just a mess, there’s no body to it."
Rating: 6/10
M&S Our Best Ever Trifle - £7
This is another large trifle, and on the packaging says it serves 6. M&S must be pretty confident that this one is a winner, calling it "Our Best Ever Trifle" on the label.
When I took the wrapping off, unfortunately the cream imprint on top had slid a bit onto the top which was a shame in terms of presentation. And it was tricky to cut into as it was all a bit sloppy and messed up.
But the taste was really excellent. It was very strongly raspberry with the compote at the bottom, but it married well with the rich smooth custard layer, a delightfully light sponge cake that somehow managed the perfect balance of a bit soaked but not soggy, and then all that cream on top.
There's no jelly in this one though, which might upset the purists (like my in-laws). But for me this was a real taste winner.
Rating: 8/10
Morrisons strawberry trifle - £2.49
This one serves 4, and comes with a pretty cream display on top with little florets. It was easy to cut into with it being a shallower dish.
But that’s as good as it gets. Everything tasted a bit watery and the sponge was too stodgy - you want it to soak in a bit don't you.
The cream sort of fell away to nothing and the custard was bland. Not the greatest I'm afraid.
Rating: 5/10
The Bakery at Asda strawberry trifle - £3
This looked very different from the others with an impressive spiral segment design on top.
While this was a traditional strawberry trifle in terms of the fruit, jelly, custard and cream layers, it had quite an unusual taste with an almost aniseedy flavour which I really liked.
It stood up well compared to the others as a classic "entry level trifle" I'd say. I liked the way the sponge was squishy and soaked into the fruit and jelly layers too.
Rating: 6/10
Aldi strawberry trifle - £2.19
This one also said it serves four. It came with an impressive all-floret cream design on top.
But that was probably as good as it got for me. I felt all of the layers were very watery and bland - especially in comparison to the other two strawberry trifles tested here.
Rating: 3/10
The verdict
In terms of the best trifle, then the crown for me goes straight to M&S. They said it was their "Best Ever" trifle on the label, and for me it was the best of the entire bunch we tested here. Yes, it's more expensive, but on taste it was a clear winner.
The Tesco Coronation trifle was really unusual and would definitely be a talking point on a buffet table. But it may ruffle traditional feathers if your family really prefer a classic trifle.
If you're plumping for a traditional strawberry trifle, with jelly, custard and cream, then the three we tried from Asda, Morrison's and Aldi were not all that different from each other in style and taste. Indeed my family testers felt they "all tasted the same".
I personally thought the Asda version was the standout of the cheaper trifles that we tried though, with a better quality of each layer and a slightly quirkier flavour.
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