Trifle

A Valentine's Trifle

Ta-da!  Your beautiful creations!

Building a trifle in a plastic cup, though portable, is not the ideal presentation.  At home you can use some fancy glassware.  Preferably ones with a smaller capacity and wider surface.  Goblets are nice.

Or......

if you prefer the classic English trifle presentation (and you have over ten people to feed), you can use the traditional trifle bowl:

However you choose to present yours,  you'll want to start with some cake, custard and fruit.

To make the one we did in class today,
you will need:

  angel-food or sponge cake

-cut into 1 inch square cubes

1 cup strawberry jam

-heated until liquid (pourable) 

2 cups fresh strawberries

-rinsed, stemmed and sliced

1 & 1/2 cups whipping cream

2 Tbsp. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
--------------------

1 cup dark chocolate chips

2 cups pudding  
{or make your own custard using this recipe}

4 Tbsp sugar

2 Tbsp corn starch

2 egg yolks

2 cups milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

To make the custard:

-measure sugar and corn starch into a heavy bottom small sauce pan.

-whisk in the yolks and milk.

-stir constantly over medium-high heat to start.  As the mixture warms up, lower the heat a bit so you don't end up scrambling the eggs. 
-keep stirring, always scraping the bottom of the pan. This will take a while to thicken, so be patient.

-Once it has thickened, pour it into a bowl and stir to cool.  After approximately 20 minutes, add the vanilla, refrigerate and it will thicken more as it cools.

Meanwhile, you can be melting the chocolate with which to make your heart decorations.

Place dark chocolate chips in a squirt bottle and heat in a bowl of water placed over a pot of hot water.

And when melted, you can make your heart shapes onto parchment paper and place in the fridge to harden.

Next, place jam in a saucepan and heat over medium-low heat until pourable.

Whip the cream and powdered sugar with a splash of vanilla, until thick and fluffy.

Cut cake into cubes, and slice the strawberries.

Now, set aside one cup of the whipped cream, and fold the rest into the completely cooled custard.

Time to build the trifle!

Line the bottom with a layer of cake.

Then pour some jam over it.

Next, a thick custard layer.

Place the strawberry slices around the sides.

Fill that in with cake (or extra strawberries, then cake)

More jam.

More custard.

A big dollop of whipped cream on top.

And a beautiful chocolate heart!