I make a simple trifle that is easy and excellent. It does not call for lady fingers or anything fancy and you can make it up in a snap. It is not even a recipe so I will explain what I did here. I used frozen organic berries when I made this back in the winter. Now that it is spring, fresh berries are starting to appear and I made this recently with organic strawberries and it was was sublime. I still prefer the mixed berries, however.
Took a 16 oz package of frozen mixed berries and thawed them (strawberries, blueberries and raspberries). Sprinkled them with 1/2 cup of sugar and added a dash of a true mint extract...NOT strong peppermint. It was made with spearmint and mint leaves, steeped in grain alcohol. Do not over do this part....just a drop or two is more than enough. I was going to use Grand Marinier or Medori but was out of both. Let berries sit in fridge for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until ready to assemble the trifle.
Use a steep sided clear glass container for presentation but any steep sided container will do. I have used one of my Corning ware casseroles and it is perfect. In the bottom I spread a layer of the juice from the berries, just enough to moisten the bottom of the bowl. On top of that I added very thin slices of lemon cream cake. Pound cake or other cake would do okay, too. Angel food is good but for this recipe, you would need to use thick pieces. Hence a denser cake works better. I made this once with carrot pound cake and while it was not a fave, it was passable. Guess what I am getting at is that you can experiment with this and still have something good as a result. On top of the cake, I put a layer of the berries, more cake, more berries, layering it until I finished with a layer of berries.
Topped that with whipped cream (made my own, flavored with a little sugar and some vanilla....if I had used the Grand Marinier, I would have added some of it) Put it back in the fridge and chill another 20-30 minutes.
It was very easy, pretty to look at and very, very tasty! One note, though....do NOT use something in a can, like Redi-Whip or Cool Whip. You want to beat your own cream until it is very, very thick. That is one of the secrets to this recipe.
My father is diabetic and I made this for him a couple of times with Splenda. It was not half bad. I haven't tried to find a sugar free cake yet, but I imagine you could find something suitable. If I try that, I will post it here at TAO.
My father is diabetic and I made this for him a couple of times with Splenda. It was not half bad. I haven't tried to find a sugar free cake yet, but I imagine you could find something suitable. If I try that, I will post it here at TAO.
