Berry Citrus Trifle with Vanilla Cream
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Sunday is Mother's Day, and this is a perfect dessert for breakfast to celebrate the occasion. A great tip to making cake even more special is to serve an individual glass cups, just like the photo above. You can even use a wine glass! Before you think that this post is all my doing, I want to introduce you to Karen Tedesco of Family Style Food . Not only dear Karen take these gorgeous photos, but she also adapted the sponge cake recipe from one of my favorite food blogger friends, David Lebovitz. David's brand new book, Ready for Dessert, just came out and includes a compilation of his very favorite recipes (which is also a perfect gift for Mother's Day as well!)
If you're not up to making your own cake, go ahead and get store-bought sponge cake or angel food cake....I'm sure Mom will love it just as much. ~Jaden
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by: Karen Tedesco of Family Style Food
When a gorgeous slice of cake appears in front of you, tall and
gloriously layered, which part is your fork most attracted to?
Much like preferring certain parts of a chicken over others – I’m a
thigh girl, in case you’re wondering - I’ve noticed how people like to
eat their cake. Some people avoid extraneous fluff, frosting or filling
and zero in on their prize: the cake; while others are happy to
precisely scrape away and devour only the layers of icing, leaving
naked, golden cake all alone on the plate, like Beyoncè after she’s
stripped off a pink satin dress at the end of the day.
It must be a trait we carry throughout our lifetime, because it’s not
only children who seem to have this compulsion. I know a few adults who
would gladly mutilate a harmless cake just to get at the neon-colored
icing.
I place myself in the democratic camp; I get some of everything when I
dig in to dessert; a bite of moist cake, the crush of sweet juicy fruit,
and a lashing of vanilla-scented cream. That’s why I think trifle is
such a perfect dessert: It’s cake deconstructed and put back together.
For this trifle recipe, I baked a sponge cake from pastry chef David
Lebovitz’s new book Ready for Dessert. It’s super-easy to make and even
better made ahead of time - like the day before assembling the trifle.
But to keep things extra-simple, a store-bought angel food cake would
work just as well.
And - ssshhh - maybe even better, since you can take credit for serving a
simply stunning dessert for Mother’s Day (or any day) without having to
turn on the oven.
Berry Citrus Trifle with Vanilla Bean Cream
For the sponge cake (adapted from Ready for Dessert by David Lebovitz):
5 large eggs, separated
¼ cup cold water
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups cake flour, sifted
½ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
Grated zest of a lemon or orange
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter the bottom of a rimmed 12 x 18-inch baking sheet or a 9-inch springform pan with sides at least 2 inches high. Line the bottom with a piece of parchment paper.
In a stand mixer fitted with the whip attachment, whip the egg yolks and water on high speed for 1 minute. Decrease speed to medium, add sugar and vanilla then increase speed to high. Continue to whip until the mixture forms a ribbon when the whip is lifted, about 5 minutes. Scrape the batter into another bowl, and wash the bowl and beater.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt over the beaten yolks. Gently fold in the flour until completely incorporated.
Whip the egg whites and zest in the clean bowl on high speed until they form stiff peaks. Fold one-third of the whites into the yolk batter to lighten, then fold in the remaining whites.
Pour batter into the prepared pan and spread into an even layer. Bake until the cake is lightly browned and the center springs back when gently pressed, 15 – 18 minutes in a baking sheet or 40 – 45 minutes in a springform cake pan.
Let cake cool in the pan. Run a knife around the sides of cake to loosen and invert onto a cutting board.
For the Trifle:
¾ cup sugar
2 cups crème fraiche
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped (see photos for how-to) OR 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Juice from one large lemon or orange
4 cups mixed hulled and sliced strawberries and raspberries
1 baked Sponge Cake (or prepared angel food cake)
Whisk ½ cup sugar with the crème fraiche, cream and vanilla bean seeds in a medium bowl until smooth.
In another bowl, whisk the remaining ¼ cup sugar with lemon or orange juice to dissolve. Gently stir in the berries. Let the berries sit 10 minutes.
To assemble the trifle, cut the cake into circles to fit into 4 wide, shallow glasses. You can use ramekins, dessert bowls or go all out and use a special trifle bowl if you have one, just cut the cake into pieces to fit.
Layer cake, berries and cream into whatever serving container you’re using, ending with berries on top. Refrigerate 30 minutes to one hour before serving.
How to split and scrape vanilla bean:
Use a paring knife to split the vanilla bean in half, lengthwise.
Turn the knife over and use it to scrape the seeds from the vanilla. You'll just be using the seeds from the vanilla, but don't discard the spent pod! Throw the pod into a canister of sugar for home made vanilla sugar.
