In The Homemade Kitchen, Alana Chernila calls this a Summer Trifle. And indeed we usually offer up this dish with mounds of fresh summer fruit. However, nowadays even in the dead of winter you can get berries galore. Fresh peaches? No, I admit we can’t find those, but that deficiency is just the perfect excuse to wait six or seven months and do this all over again with a different fruit mix.
I can’t think of a better, brighter way to start a new year than with this fruit treat. Alana offers this dish with two elements to make it holiday rich. First, rather than use the typical sponge cake she suggests Pound Cake, eggy and buttery.
Homemade pound cake is truly to be preferred to something store-bought. So, now you need a pound cake recipe? Here is Jan’s Buttermilk Pound Cake with Buttermilk and a Butter Pound Cake, too.
The other enriching element here is using pastry cream instead of whipped cream as the permeating element of this dessert. Whipped cream would be fine and light. Pastry cream is rich and decadent.
Look, I’m posting this on New Year’s Day. What better way to start this new year. Resolutions about eating better this year? Oh, gee. Ah, let’s see, what if they just start tomorrow?
Summer Trifle for New Year’s Day
Yield: serves 8 to 10
Ingredients:
- 4 to 5 cups blueberries, sliced strawberries, raspberries, sliced peaches, or a combination
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- ¼ teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 Pound Cake (page 285), 1 to 2 days old is fine if not better, cut into 1-inch cubes
- ⅓ cup cream sherry
- 4 cups Pastry Cream (recipe below)
- Optional: Whipped Cream, for serving
Preparation:
Pick out the most perfect fruit for decoration and set aside. Combine the rest of the fruit with the sugar and balsamic vinegar and stir gently to combine. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes.
Set aside a handful of pound cake cubes for the top of the trifle. Then, lay a third of the remaining pound cake on the bottom of a trifle dish or large glass bowl. Sprinkle a third of the sherry over the cake. Spoon a third of the fruit mixture over the cake, and top with a third of the pastry cream. Repeat the process, for a total of three layers of cake, fruit, and cream. Wrap tightly and refrigerate until ready to serve. Just before serving, top with the reserved fruit and pound cake and the whipped cream, if using.
Pastry Cream
Yield: about 4 cups
Ingredients:
- 3 cups milk, divided into 2 ½ and ½ cup elements
- 1/3 cup sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 vanilla bean
- 4 egg yolks
- 3 tablespoons corn starch
Preparation:
Combine 2 ½ cups whole milk, the sugar, the salt and the seeds and pod of a vanilla bean in a saucepan. While the milk mixture heats, whisk the 4 egg yolks and the 3 tablespoons cornstarch into another ½ of cup milk. Whisk a hefty glug of the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture—then pour the whole egg mixture back into the hot milk and return the pot to heat. This is called tempering and prevents your eggs from becoming scrambled eggs.
Bring to a boil and stir constantly until the mixture thickens into a creamy pudding, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a covered container in the refrigerator to cool. Makes about 4 cups.
Source: The Homemade Kitchen by Alana Chernila [Clarkson Potter, 2015]