I've posted trifle recipes before but it just struck me after getting a bunch of comments about how people loved this most recent one that I needed to write another Lazy Woman post about them.
I have a lot of friends who say they never bake and therefore they shy away from doing any kind of homemade desserts. They label themselves as "cooks" and not "bakers" so they don't do anything. There are just so darned many easy deserts to make -- some that you bake and some that you don't -- that I'm going to try to TURN some of you into dessert masters!
Start with this because, people, you CANNOT SCREW THIS UP! And you can completely customize it for anyone. And, this is a NON-baker's Lazy Woman dream!
This one I made for someone who likes strawberries, coffee and chocolate. But you can do ANYTHING!
1. Get a glass vessel that will show all your beautiful layers.
2. First layer -- a soft light cake-y thing -- sponge cake or lady fingers work really well. Dip the cakey thing in a liquid -- liqueurs or coffee work great. You can also brush or drizzle the liquid over it, if you are afraid of over-soaking. In this case I put a couple dashes of Kahlua in the coffee
3. Second layer -- a pudding-y thing -- for this one I used vanilla pudding, but I had prepped chocolate pudding too. I wanted to strawberry and coffee flavors to pop though so I chose vanilla. YOU DON'T HAVE TO MAKE FROM SCRATCH. You can buy the pudding-y thing pre-made.
4. Third layer -- a fruit-y thing - I usually soak the fruit in a liqueur but because I didn't know if anyone in this crowd was abstaining from alcohol, I soaked the strawberries in balsamic vinegar for about 20 minutes. Yes, shocking, but they do not taste like vinegar once drained. It was great, but my personal preference is liqueurs, like Grand Marnier, for instance. You don't have to soak it in anything though!
5. Fourth layer -- whipped cream. I make mine because I don't like it too sweet. I add a little powdered sugar and liqueur usually, but this day I did vanilla. YOU DON'T HAVE TO MAKE IT FROM SCRATCH.
6. Fifth Layer -- This is usually a sprinkling of chocolate or nuts or other candy (Heath Bars work great too)
7. REPEAT Layers 1 through 4! End with whipped cream no matter where you are in your layers and throw a little decorative touch and voila super impressive dessert.
When you are assembling it, just pay attention to what is showing on the outside. But even with this -- you can't screw up! The layers themselves make it beautiful even if you are sloppy!
So for this trifle I did:
- Ladyfingers brushed with strong coffee + Kahlua mixture.
- Vanilla Pudding
- Strawberries soaked briefly in Balsamic Vinegar
- Whipped Cream
- Chopped Chocolate -- I threw a little chopped chocolate on top of all the whipped cream layers
