Blueberry Trifle from @MaddieDayAuthor

MADDIE DAY here, enduring a very hot stretch of weather in New England.

Yes, this native southern Californian will never again say New England isn't hot enough in the summer for me. I promise! Still, I had three writer friends coming over for dinner on the deck. I didn't want to bake, but I have lots of plump, sweet blueberries from my own bushes ready for the using. What better dessert to serve than trifle? I didn't even need a recipe, because it's been in my head for decades.

I knew trifle was a British dessert, and I remember I first started making it in college, but I've lost track of who first served it to me. Amanda's Cooking tells us trifle is a Scottish invention. "The Scots have recipes that date back to the late 1500’s! Of course hundreds of years ago, Scotland and England united to become the United Kingdom, so calling the trifle “English” is fair. ;-)"

I love trifle partly because it's all desserts in one: cake, fruit, custard, cream - and an after-dinner drink. How can you go wrong with that? Don't be surprised if you see it appear served at Robbie Jordan's Country Store restaurant next year sometime. Without further ado, I present you Blueberry Trifle.

Blueberry Trifle

As you can see in what follows, I used store-bought shortcuts for several of these ingredients. It would, of course, be even more delicious if you used home-baked pound cake, a real custard, and real whipped cream. But it was hot, I’d been working most of the day on my work-in-progress, and I felt like being easy on myself. And everyone who tasted it said the dessert was fabulous. I thanked them, and silently agreed.

Ingredients

Oops, forgot to include the milk in the picture!

Four thick slices pound cake, store-bought or homemade

Brandy, sherry, or strawberry jam

2-3 cups fresh blueberries, peaches, strawberries, or other soft summer fruit

1 package non-instant vanilla pudding mix or homemade vanilla custard

2 cups whole milk

1 banana

Whipped cream, store-bought or home whipped (but never Cool Whip, please)

Note: I wanted to serve my friends individual servings, but I also wanted plenty for Hugh (and me) for a day or two, so I used four squat glasses, plus a 7-inch glass bowl. I no longer own a trifle bowl, but the dessert looks extra nice in a straight-sided glass bowl on a pedestal. Don’t worry – any 9-inch bowl will work. Here's the dish Amanda's Cooking. See how pretty the layers look?

Directions

Cut cake into one-inch squares and cover the bottom of the bowl. Drizzle brandy, sherry, madeira, or a flavored liqueur on the cake. (If you avoid spirits, spread it with a layer of the jam of your choice.) Let it sit for twenty minutes.

After ten minutes, cook pudding according to directions. Remove from heat.

 

Slice banana into quarter-inch slices and lay evenly on top of cake pieces. 

Gently spoon warm pudding over all the pieces of cake and banana. 

Spread blueberries evenly over pudding, pressing in slightly.

Let cool thirty minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least four hours.

 

Spread with another layer of blueberries and top with whipped cream.

 

Serve to your guests with a glass of the same liquor you soaked the cake with, or enjoy with a nice cup of tea and a good mystery.

Readers: What's your favorite summer dessert? What about favorite trifle flavors?

My most recent release is Batter Off Dead, Country Store Mystery #10, out now!

My next release is Murder in a Cape Cottage, the fourth Cozy Capers Book Group Mystery, out September 27.

"Scarfed Down," my Country Store novella in the collection Christmas Scarf Murder releases the same day.

We hope you'll visit Maddie and her Agatha Award-winning alter ego Edith Maxwell on our web site, sign up for our monthly newsletter, visit us on social media, and check our all our books and short stories.

Maddie Day (aka Edith Maxwell) is a talented amateur chef and holds a PhD in Linguistics from Indiana University. An Agatha Award-winning and bestselling author, she is a member of Sisters in Crime and Mystery Writers of America and also writes award-winning short crime fiction. She lives with her beau north of Boston, where she’s currently working on her next mystery when she isn’t cooking up something delectable in the kitchen.

 

 

Chocolate Strawberry Trifle

I've had berries on the brain. There are so many choices and they all seem to be here at once. I'm itching to try a strawberry and chicken breast salad. If I make it, you'll see it here.

This trifle is the perfect dessert for a hot summer day. It does require a few steps but they're not cumbersome. The cake doesn't have to be perfect because it's going to be cubed anyway,  And the strawberries will be sliced, so how can you go wrong? Here's how-I forgot the garnish! If the kids won't grab the wrong one, you can also sprinkle your favorite liqueur on the cake!  Chambord is the one I would reach for!

Did you know that I've been giving away a book a day on my Facebook page? I don't know how long I'll continue, but check it out! https://www.facebook.com/KristaDavisAuthor

Chocolate Strawberry Trifle

Cake

8x8 inch cake pan

5 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350. Line the baking pan with parchment paper, leaving some on the sides to use as handles later.

Melt the butter over low heat. Set aside to cool.

Beat the eggs, sugar, and vanilla. Begin on low and increase the speed to high. Beat for at least 12-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk together the flour and the cocoa and set aside. Take this time to prepare the strawberries.

When the egg mixture is very fluffy, remove the bowl from the mixture and fold in the chocolate powder 1/3 at a time. Then fold in the butter, 1/3 at a time. Pour into the pan and bake at 350 for 16-18 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Lift cake out of the pan and set on a cake rack to cool.

Strawberries

16 ounce container of fresh strawberries (About 3/4 of the package will be enough.)

Wash and hull. Slice the strawberries, setting aside 4 of the prettiest slices as garnish.

Whipped Cream

1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Whip the cream until it starts to firm and take shape. Add the powdered sugar and the vanilla.  Beat until it holds a shape.

Assembly

The cake must be cool before you assemble. Pop a few cubes of cake in the bottom of your dish. Add strawberries and top with cream. Repeat. The exact order doesn't really matter as long as you end up with cream on top. Garnish with a slice of strawberry.

Melt the butter.

Beat the eggs, sugar, and vanilla.

Mix the flour and the cocoa.

The eggs will get very thick. Beat, beat, beat!

Pour into pan.

Prepare the strawberries.

Cut the cake.

Cube the cake.

Little Trifles of Summer

While I have been accused of being a bit of a domestic diva, I'm not in the habit of promoting products. Recently, though, while I waited for something, I killed some time (and some cash) in WalMart where I found adorable little glass trifle bowls. They're just the perfect size for a single serving. And at $2 a pop, you wouldn't break the bank if you needed enough for a small luncheon. They make cute sugar bowls, too. And would be very sweet favors filled with colorful candy and tied with a bow.

In my case, house guests arrived a few days after I bought them. And I stumbled upon the best summer dessert ever - a summer trifle. I skipped the pudding altogether and simply used cubes of cake, fresh fruit, and whipped cream.

You can make this with store bought cake. I'll never tell! Pound cake or angel food cake would be great choices. I used the Big Blueberry Cake that I posted a few weeks ago. Shh, now don't go blabbing, but you can use that cake two ways and your guests won't even notice. Cut up part of it for the summer trifle, and serve the remaining pieces as coffeecake with breakfast the next day!

Of course, any yummy berries will do. Strawberries, blackberries, blueberries or a combination of whatever you have on hand.

I dressed mine up a little bit by pouring a bit of Chambord on the cake squares. You could just as easily use a different sweet fruit liqueur or rum.

Summer Trifles

(makes 4 individual trifles)

2-3 pints assorted berries, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries
1/2 a cake
fruit liqueur or rum (optional)
1 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Wash the berries and dry on paper towels. Cut the strawberries into pieces. Cut the cake into 1-inch (approximate) squares. Beat the heavy cream until it begins to take shape, then add the powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until it holds a shape but isn't stiff.

Begin with cake and berries. Sprinkle the cake with liqueur. Add a dollop of cream. Repeat, ending with the cream. Top with a berry.

So refreshing!

And healthy!

A little indulgence.

Berry Trifle

Apparently, I am the only person in the world who has never made trifle. In fact, I had never eaten it until New Year's Eve! Um, now that I've tasted it, I have a feeling it's going to be one of my favorite desserts.

Every New Year's Eve, I host a house party. My young college roommates (they might read this, I don't dare call them old) come for a visit, and we spend a couple of days in our pajamas catching up, eating, watching movies, and relaxing. We gussy up a bit for New Year's Eve, though, and I always try to make a show stopper dessert. For some reason, I had trifle on my mind, and when one of my guests suggested it, I thought that must be an omen.

After this, I plan to make it a lot more often. Seriously, cake, jam, fruit, pudding and whipped cream? What's not to like? Does anyone remember the Friends episode where Rachel made trifle but used peas and beef in addition to everything else?

Now, let's face it, you can buy the basic components ready made: sponge cake, pudding, whipped cream. But they're just not hard to make at home. And trifle is so forgiving that they don't have to come out pretty! Even a cake that falls apart will taste every bit as good in a trifle.

Sponge Cake

1 cup flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
3 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup gently warm water
1 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350. Cover the bottom of a 9-inch pan (I used a springform pan) with parchment paper. DO NOT grease the pan.

In a bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt with a fork or a mini-whisk. Set aside.

Separate the eggs. Beat the three egg yolks with the sugar and gradually beat in the water. They will turn lighter in color and become thick. Beat in the vanilla. Slowly beat the flour mixture into the eggs.

In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites until they are stiff but not dry. Using a spatula, gently fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture. When combined, add the second 1/3. Finally fold in the last 1/3. (Eyeball it, 1/3 is just a guideline.) Pour into prepared pan and spread. Bake 45 minutes.

When you remove the cake from the oven, invert it on a cooling rack. Let it cool before you loosen the edges and remove.

Pudding

1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
pinch of salt
2 cups milk (can be nonfat)
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

In a heavy-bottomed pan, mix the sugar, cornstarch and salt with a whisk. Pour in the milk and stir, using a whisk as a spoon. Stirring, bring to a slow boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Lightly whisk the two eggs. While whisking them, add a few drops of the hot pudding to temper them. Add more, whisking. Then add the eggs to the pot while stirring the pudding. Bring to a slow boil again, stirring, for one minute. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and butter.

Cream

1 pint heavy cream
2/3 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla

Beat the cream. When it begins to take shape, add the sugar and the vanilla. Beat until it holds a firm peak.

Fruit

Mix and match these depending on what you like and what is available.

32 ounces fresh strawberries
16 ounces raspberries
8 ounces blueberries

Hull the strawberries and slice in half.

Liqueur & Jam

1/4 cup Chambord
1/4 cup strawberry jam

Assembly

Slice the sponge cake in half so you have two 1-inch cakes. Trim one piece so it fits the bottom of the trifle dish. Spread it with half the jam. Use the largest strawberries to line the trifle dish, cut side toward the glass. Add half the pudding to the middle. Place smaller strawberries on top of the pudding. Top with cream. Repeat the process, except this time, before adding the jam, pour the Chambord over the cake layer, then add the jam.

On the top layer of cream,  arrange the raspberries and blueberries. There's no magic to this. Do what you think is pretty.

Serve and enjoy!

The egg yolks will be thick and light in color.

Stand the outer strawberries against the bowl.

Decorate the top with berries.

Yum!