Princes Mandarins in Juice - 298g

In Britain, tinned mandarins are less of a fruit and more of a finishing touch. They go on top of the trifle, into the jelly, across the cheesecake, or into a bowl with a splash of evaporated milk when nobody can be bothered to make a pudding.

People in Canada go looking for this one by name because it is the tin their mum or their nan always had in. When you are trying to rebuild a dessert from memory, the right label on the tin matters more than you would think.

It is a 298g tin, enough to crown a decent trifle or fill a couple of bowls. Unopened, it sits quietly in the cupboard for as long as you need it. Once it is open, tip what is left into a covered dish and keep it in the fridge.

Princes makes a whole cupboard of tins in Britain, from fish to fruit. The mandarins tend to go home in the same bag as a packet of jelly, a tin of custard and a sponge, which is to say the makings of a trifle.