Mixed Berry Trifle
Cooking was never something my Mom loved to do but she did love to bake. So it’s fitting that this recipe is one she found (source unknown!) clipped from a magazine years ago. Want to know the sign of a Mother’s love? When she prepares a recipe using ingredients she can never enjoy (she’s allergic to berries)! It’s an easy, light recipe that’s perfect for a hot summer evening. Kids can have fun helping prepare the ingredients, too!
This has become my traditional Fourth of July dessert that is perfectly timed with the magical tipping point of berry season where strawberries, cherries, and early blueberries are all perfectly in season together for just a few weeks. You could make it for other patriotic occasions but it will never taste as perfect as it does in July.
INGREDIENTS:
¼ cup plus 2/3 cup sugar
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
¼ teaspoon almond extract
1 pre-made angel food cake cut into 1-inch slices
1 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups heavy cream, at room temperature
2 pint blueberries
2 pint strawberries, hulled and sliced
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT:
A trifle dish
DIRECTIONS:
Heat ¼ cup sugar, lemon juice and ¼ cup water in a saucepan over medium–high
heat , stirring until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and stir in the almond
extract.Brush both sides of each slice of cake with the syrup. Cut the slices into 1-inch cubes.
Beat the remaining 2/3 cup sugar and the cream cheese with a mixer on medium
speed until smooth and light. Add the cream and beat on medium-high speed until
smooth and the consistency of whipped cream.Arrange half of the cake cubes in the bottom of a 13-cup trifle dish. Sprinkle evenly
with a layer of blueberries. Dollop half of the cream mixture over the blueberries
and gently spread. Top with a layer of strawberries. Layer the remaining cake cubes
on top of the strawberries then sprinkle with more blueberries. Top with remaining cream.Add berries on top for decoration, as desired.
