Category: Cocoa

According the Oxford Dictionary a Trifle is British noun meaning.

a cold dessert of sponge cake and fruit covered with layers of custard, jelly, and cream.

I love trifles as they are a great way to use odd pieces of  this and that and compose into a comforting dessert enjoyed by all. You can make a large one or series of smaller individual ones for your guest in glasses when entertaining. I have served trifles when catering and they are always well received. I’m not going to provide an exact recipe , but show you how I assembled this through pictures and words. Add your own embellishments. I used Luxardo products as my flavor basis and theme. I love the richness, sweetness, aroma and flavor of the luxurious maraschino cherry  liqueur. A jar of the cherries is really a worthwhile splurge to amp up your cocktails, deserts, or mocktails. My new thing as the weather gets warmer is to add a cherry and some of the syrup to my lemonade.  This trifle uses both the liquer and about half the jar of cherries. You can use more if you wish.

The Components of The Trifle are:

Crème Anglais ( a thin custard) ( Here is a good recipe you will need to double.)  Save half of your crème to fold into the  Whipped Cream.

I actually used 7 yolks, and 3/4 cup of sugar that I grinded old dried vanilla beans in ( I never throw anything away and this was left from homemade extract). You can infuse a split vanilla bean in the milk/cream as it heats. I wanted a yolkier custard. Be sure not to overcook as it will curdle and scramble quick. If it does, you may save it by running it through a blender. It should coat a spoon but it wont be very thick. Also another pro tip is to strain your custard  through a fine mesh sieve when complete, before cooling.

Heavy Cream whipped ( I always use 40 percent heavy whipping cream)

( About 3-4 cups whipped until stiff. Add some  of Luxardo Cherries syrup and a few teaspoons of sugar to sweeten. You will be adding sweetened  cooled cream anglais  to this as well, so be careful with the sugar.

Frozen Cake ( yellow cake, pound cake, chocolate cake , etc.) I always have some plain cake in the freezer left over from a project. You want a denser cake to absorb the liqueur.

Luxardo Liqueur

Luxardo Cherries

Cocoa Powder

Step One:

Make a Bottom layer of Frozen Cake cut into cubes. Drizzle Luxardo Liquor over the cake to soak.  Don’t over drench.

Step Two:

Pour Crème Anglais over the soaked cake

Step Three:

Add some Luxardo Cherries sporadically around the edge.

Step Four:

Cover first layer with Whipped Cream mixed with half of the Cream Anglais. Add some of the Luxardo cherry syrup to the mix and fold gently. Be sure your bowl is cold  when whipping.

Step Five:

Repeat all the steps until bowl is filled. Sprinkle top with a dusting of Cocoa Powder.

Chill and allow to set for several hours before serving , so the flavors meld.

Enjoy!