Cranberry Custard Trifle Recipes

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, combine cranberries, cranberry sauce, sugar and water. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Reduce heat to medium; cook, uncovered, until thickened, 10-15 minutes. Add wine and extract. Remove from heat; cool completely., For custard, mix sugar, cornstarch and salt in another large saucepan; gradually whisk in milk until smooth. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat to low; cook and stir 2-3 minutes longer. Remove from heat., In a small bowl, whisk a small amount of hot mixture into egg yolks. Return all to pan, whisking constantly. Bring to a gentle boil; cook and stir 2 minutes. Stir in coconut extract. Cool 30 minutes. Refrigerate, covered, for 1 hour., To assemble, cut cake into 1-in. cubes. In a 3-qt. trifle bowl or other glass serving dish, place half of the cake cubes; sprinkle with wine if desired. Layer with half of the almonds, cranberry mixture and custard. Repeat layers. Refrigerate, covered, until serving. Top with whipped cream, additional cranberries and toasted almonds.

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, combine the first 5 ingredients; bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Reduce heat to medium; cook, uncovered, until berries pop and mixture is thickened, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat; cool completely., For custard, in a large saucepan, mix the sugar, cornstarch and salt. Whisk in milk. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat to low; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from the heat. , In a small bowl, whisk a small amount of hot milk mixture into egg yolks; return all to the pan, whisking constantly. Bring to a gentle boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes. Immediately transfer to a clean bowl; stir in vanilla. Cool for 30 minutes. Press waxed paper onto surface of filling; refrigerate until cold, about 1 hour., To assemble, place half of the cake on the bottom of a 4-qt. trifle bowl or glass bowl; drizzle with 2 tablespoons orange liqueur. Layer with half of the cranberry mixture, 1/4 cup almonds and half of the custard. Repeat layers. Refrigerate, covered, until serving. Top with whipped cream and orange sections.

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, combine cranberries, 2 cups granulated sugar, ginger, and 2 cups water. Bring to a simmer over medium; cook until cranberries begin to burst, 8 to 10 minutes. Let compote cool completely.
• Make cream filling: Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, brown sugar, remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar, and vanilla on high until well combined. With mixer on medium, gradually add heavy cream; continue beating until soft peaks form.
• Arrange 1/3 of cake in a 3-quart serving dish. Spoon 1/3 of compote over cake; spread to sides of dish. Dollop 1/3 of cream filling over compote; spread to sides of dish. Repeat twice, ending with cream filling. Cover; refrigerate at least 2 hours (or up to 1 day). Garnish with Candied Orange Zest, if desired.

Steps:

• Prepare white chocolate custard recipe: In a large heavy saucepan, stir sugar, cornstarch and salt with a wire whisk until mixed together. Gradually stir in milk until smooth.
• Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils; reduce heat and cook for 1 minute. Remove saucepan from heat.
• Gradually stir about half of the hot milk mixture into egg yolks. Slowly pour egg mixture back into milk mixture, stirring rapidly to prevent lumping. Cook, stirring constantly, until custard just begins to bubble. Remove from heat.
• Stir in chocolate and vanilla until melted and smooth. To keep a skin from forming over the top, press plastic wrap directly onto the top of the hot custard. Cool to room temperature without stirring, then in refrigerator about 1 hour.
• Prepare dessert as follows: Cut pound cake into small cubes.
• In small bowl, with fork, stir together cranberry-raspberry sauce and liquor until smooth.
• In a 3-quart clear glass bowl, place about half of the cake chunks.
• Remove 2 tbsp cranberry-raspberry sauce; cover and set aside. Spoon about half of the remaining sauce mixture over cake, and top with about half of the white chocolate custard.
• Repeat layers with remaining cake, sauce mixture, and custard. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours.
• To serve, in small bowl, whip heavy cream, confectioner's sugar and vanilla just until stiff peaks form. Reserve about 1 cup whipped cream; spread remaining cream over trifle.
• Spoon reserved cranberry sauce mixture into small decorating tube (or a small plastic bag with a small slit in corner) and pipe in a desired design on top of whipped cream. Draw a sharp knife tip across lines to feather the design.
• Spoon reserved whipped cream into decorating bag with a star tip and pipe around edges of trifle. Garnish with nuts.

Steps:

• Make the custard: In a large bowl, combine sugar, cornstarch and salt. Add egg yolks and whisk until smooth.
• In a medium saucepan, heat cream, milk and any of the optional flavorings over medium heat until simmering.
• Slowly whisk 1/2 cup hot cream mixture into yolk mixture until well mixed. Whisking egg mixture constantly, slowly pour in remaining cream. Pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan and place it over medium-low heat.
• Cook custard, stirring continuously especially around the bottom and edges of the pot, until the custard has thickened enough to mound on the spoon, 5 to 10 minutes. Don't let it come to a boil, but a few simmering bubbles is fine. If it starts to curdle at any point, remove pot from the heat and whisk it intensely. It should smooth out.
• Once the custard is thick, scrape it into bowl, whisk in vanilla, and press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto its surface. Let the custard cool for at least 30 minutes. At this point, custard can be chilled for up to 3 days, or used to assemble the trifle. Pluck out cinnamon stick or cardamom pods, if using, just before assembling trifle.
• Prepare the fruit: If using berries, put them in a bowl, sprinkle with sugar to taste, and use a fork to mash them. If using oranges, supreme them: Cut the tops and bottoms off each one, squeezing the juice from the severed pieces into a bowl. Using a paring knife, cut the peel and all the white pith off the fruit. Working over the bowl to catch the juices, slice the segments away from the membrane, letting fruit fall into the bowl. It's OK if the segments fall apart; you're going to break them up anyway. When all the segments are cut out of the membranes, squeeze the membranes over the bowl to release as much of the juice as possible. Sprinkle oranges with sugar, to taste, and, using your hands, break the segments up into pieces. You want a pulpy, juicy mix in the bowl. There should be a lot of liquid. Let oranges or the berries macerate for 20 minutes.
• To assemble the trifle, spread the ladyfingers on one side with a thick layer of jam or marmalade. Put the ladyfingers, jam-side down, in the bottom of a medium (6- to 8-cup) trifle dish or any other serving bowl or dish (or use individual dishes, cups or glasses). You want to cover the bottom completely and, if you are using a bowl, go a little bit up the sides; break up the ladyfingers if needed to make them fit.
• Sprinkle sherry (or whatever liquid you are using) over the ladyfingers, making sure they are well moistened. Be generous: You don't want any dry bits.
• Spoon fruit and all their juices over ladyfingers. Top with custard. If you like a higher cake-to-custard ratio, you can break up a few more ladyfingers and scatter them on top of the custard, then drizzle with more sherry. Press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or up to 24 hours.
• When ready to serve, using an electric mixer or a whisk, beat the cream and confectioners' sugar until fluffy; it should hold a light peak. Spoon whipped cream on top of trifle and garnish as you like. Serve immediately. (Leftovers will keep covered in the refrigerator for 2 or 3 days.)

Steps:

• Make cake layers:
• Preheat oven to 350°F and butter pans. Line bottom of each pan with wax or parchment paper and butter paper. Dust pans with flour, knocking out excess.
• Whisk together yolks, 1 1/2 cups sugar, milk, and vanilla in a large bowl until combined well, then whisk in flour and salt until smooth. (Batter will be thick.)
• Beat whites with an electric mixer until they hold soft peaks. With mixer at low speed, gradually beat in remaining 3/4 cup sugar. Increase speed to high and beat until whites hold stiff, glossy peaks.
• Fold about one third of whites into batter to lighten, then fold in remaining whites gently but thoroughly.
• Divide batter among pans and spread evenly. Rap pans against a work surface to release any air bubbles. Bake, 1 pan at a time, in middle of oven until cake is pale golden and beginning to shrink around edges, 10 to 11 minutes per pan. Cool layers completely in pans on racks.
• Assemble trifle:
• Loosen edges of 1 cake layer with a knife. Place a sheet of wax or parchment paper on top of layer and invert onto a rack. Carefully peel paper from cake. Place a new sheet of wax or parchment paper on inverted cake and reinvert onto work surface, peeling off paper that is now on top. Repeat with remaining 2 layers.
• With long side of layers toward you, halve layers vertically with a serrated knife. Spread 1 half of each layer (3 of 6 halves) with cranberry jam, then top with remaining plain halves.
• Put each "sandwich" crosswise into 10 (71/2- by 3/4-inch) strips. Arrange 1 strip vertically in trifle dish with a cut side against glass (see photo below), then trim strip flush with top of dish. Using trimmed piece as a guide, cut remaining strips to fit dish, reserving trimmings. Brush strips on all sides with Cognac syrup and fit strips tightly all around edge of dish. (If your dish is slightly smaller on bottom than on top, cut a few strips in half diagonally to fill any gaps.)
• Brush trimmings with syrup and arrange one fourth of them in 1 layer in bottom of dish. Pour in 1 cup custard. Repeat layering of trimmings and custard to fill dish, ending with custard. (You may have a small amount of custard left over.) Brush top of strips around edge with syrup. Cover trifle with plastic wrap and chill at least 8 hours.
• Make topping:
• Beat heavy cream with confectioners sugar, Cognac, and vanilla with an electric mixer until it holds soft peaks. Remove plastic wrap from trifle and mound cream on top.