Summer Berry Trifle Recipe

Summer Desserts

In a recent Blog I touched on Lemon Curd, and other related products having been created using the herbs and fruit from my garden. Today I have a recipe for you as well as a follow up note regarding the freezing of my lemon curd, not knowing if it would separate or turn to mush upon thawing.  I am happy to report the lemon curd held up very well through the freezing and thawing process and is featured in this recipe, as are my blackberries

Now that the sun is warming the Blackberry vines, it prompts me to begin creating some of my favorite desserts, one of which I will share with you. This recipe is designed for a medium sized Trifle bowl but I have chosen to use personal sized glasses, as demonstrated in the picture, simply because there are only two people in our house and we love leftovers, therefore the personal size size satisfies our needs.


Berry Trifle

Ingredients:

½ pint              Blueberries

½ pint              Strawberries

½ pint              Blackberries    (Raspberries are optional)

½                     Lemon, juiced

1/8 cup            Sugar               (plus more if the sauce is too tart)

¾ tsp.              Cornstarch

Lemon Cream:

1/2 pint            Heavy whipping cream, chilled

½ T.                 Sugar

¼ tsp               Vanilla

½ Jar               Lemon curd (approx 6 oz).

½ (or less)      Store bought pound cake cut into ½ inch slices

Method:

Place berries in a large bowl and sprinkle with ½ the lemon juice.  Lightly toss.

Combine the berries, sugar, cornstarch and remaining lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat.  Bring to a simmer and cook just until the berries begin to break down and give up their juices, about 3 minutes. Remove the berries from the heat, set aside and let cool. The mixture will thicken as it cools.

In a clean, chilled, stainless steel bowl, whip the cream with the sugar and vanilla to a soft peak.  Put the lemon curd into a second bowl and fold in a small portion of whipped cream to loosen the curd. Fold in the remainder of the whipped cream and continue to fold until the curd and whipped cream are thoroughly blended.

To assemble the trifle, spoon a layer of the lemon cream into individual serving glasses, add a layer of cake, breaking the slices into pieces to fit, then soak the cake with a layer of berries and their juice.  Keep repeating this process until the glass is full, then top with whipped cream, garnish (if you desire) with slices of strawberries, a sprig of mint and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Serves 3 to 4.

Some side notes to consider:

The use of pound cake is an easy way cut corners where time is an important factor. I prefer Sara Lee brand.

As for the berry preparation, occasionally I will cook the berries a bit longer, transfer them to a blender, and blend until all the berries are in semi liquid form, strain to remove the seeds, which will result in a lovely smooth coulee style sauce. This method provides an option to having to deal with a surplus of seeds.

Doubling the recipe is no problem particularly if you are going to serve a group.

Clark Williams

Personal Chef