Pattie's Desperation Trifle

When Jim mentioned, rather forlornly this morning, as he was walking out the door that he didn't get his usual trifle for his birthday this year (and I knew that due to unforeseen circumstances he didn't get one last year), I kicked into high gear and put this together while he was gone. I had to remove shelves in order to get it into the fridge!

Trifle is his favorite dessert, bar none, and he has a number of recipes for them, but I had no time to dig for recipes, just gathered things up like a squirrel preparing for winter and started assembling.  The bowl isn't even a trifle bowl.  It's a lidded glass candy dish that I bought in December at Crate & Barrel to use as part of the centerpiece on my Boxing Day table.  It worked out just perfectly! (Which pretty much goes to show you can make a trifle in any size.)

The process is shown below, the result was delicious!  Instead of vanilla pudding I made an orange custard that was just heaven (recipe below).  I'm going to keep it in mind for the summer as it would go extremely well on strawberry shortcake, or simply to top a bowl of fresh berries of any kind.  I can hardly wait until spring!

Slice Sara Lee pound cake into 3/4" slices.

Spread each slice with a thick coating of raspberry jam.

Fit pieces into the bottom of trifle dish as though you're putting a puzzle together, and drizzle generously, and I'm talking GENEROUSLY with cream sherry.  (You might just give it a taste, you know, to make sure it's still good.)

Top cake layer with fresh raspberries that have been thoroughly rinsed and inverted on paper towels to completely dry.

Pour a third of the custard over raspberries and spread to cover.

Repeat with another layer of cake, this time coating it with blueberry jam.  Again GENEROUSLY drizzle with sherry, and top with fresh blueberries and strawberries.  Is this a work of art, or what?  I seriously hated to cover it up with another layer of custard cream and cake, but I did.  The final layer of cake I coated with raspberry jam, once again, and placed it jam-side down on top of the berries -- more sherry --and then topped it all with whipped cream and strawberry garnish.

Look at those luscious layers.

I love this spoon that hangs from the side of the bowl (another Crate & Barrel purchase).

Beautiful!

Needless to say, he was surprised, and very pleased.  Here's the recipe for the custard that I used, but Instant French Vanilla pudding would work just fine.

Orange Custard Cream
1 1/2 cups milk

1 tablespoon grated orange zest 

5 extra-large egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon Triple Sec

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon heavy cream

Combine the milk and orange zest in a medium stainless steel saucepan over medium heat and bring to a low simmer. Remove from the heat.

Beat the yolks and sugar on medium-high speed in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for 5 minutes. Turn the mixer to low and slowly add cornstarch. Beat on medium-low speed until combined, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula. Turn the mixer to low and pour the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture. Pour the mixture back into the pan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens, about 5 to 7 minutes. Watch very carefully as it tends to thicken very fast.  Once thickened, remove from heat and add the vanilla, Triple Sec, butter and cream.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold.

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