The Grand Finale Grand Trifle Recipes

Steps:

• For the orange curd: Whisk together the granulated sugar, eggs, orange zest and juice, lemon juice and salt in a medium saucepan. Place over medium-low heat and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens to the consistency of a pudding, 7 to 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter a couple of cubes at a time. Set aside to cool.
• For the trifle: Beat the heavy cream to stiff peaks in a large bowl with an electric mixer. In another bowl, stir together the mascarpone, confectioners' sugar and liqueur. Gently fold the mascarpone mixture into the whipped cream.
• Dollop a quarter of the cream mixture on the bottom of a 3-quart trifle dish. Cover with a layer of ladyfingers, breaking them up if necessary to cover the bottom of the dish entirely. Spread a third of the curd over the cookies. Cover with about 1/2 cup of the raspberries, spreading them evenly. Dollop and spread one-quarter of the cream mixture on top of the raspberries. Repeat the layers of cookies, curd, raspberries and cream mixture 2 more times, ending with the cream mixture (the layers will depend on the size and shape of your dish; you might have more or less layers). Chill the trifle for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.
• When ready to serve, decorate the top of the trifle with the orange slices and remaining raspberries.

Steps:

• Slice pound cake in half horizontally. Spread with jam and replace top of cake. Slice cake into 9 pieces. Line the sides and fill the center of a 2-qt. glass serving bowl with cake pieces. Prepare pudding with milk. Pour over cake. Chill. Beat cream and sugar until soft peaks form; spread over cake and pudding. Chill at least 4 hours. Garnish with almonds and cherries.

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, bring 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup water, and lemon juice to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar, 1 to 2 minutes. Let cool.
• In a small bowl, combine jam with 3 cups raspberries, mashing slightly. In a large bowl, whip cream and 2 tablespoons sugar to stiff peaks.
• Slice pound cake 3/4 inch thick; brush both sides of slices with lemon syrup.
• Fit 1/3 of slices snugly in the bottom of a 4-quart trifle dish or other glass bowl, trimming edges if necessary. Gently spread top of layer with 1/3 of raspberry mixture, and then 1/3 of whipped cream. Repeat to make two more layers; garnish with remaining cup raspberries. Refrigerate until ready to serve, up to 24 hours.

Steps:

• For the Syrup: In a small sauce pan bring all ingredients to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Let cool.
• For the Trifle: In a small bowl combine the jam a 3 c of raspberries, mashing slightly.
• In a large bowl, whip the cream and sugar to siff peaks.
• Brush both sides of each silce of pound cake with the cooled syrup.
• Fit 1/3 of slices snugly in the bottom of a 4-quart trifle dish or other glass bowl, trimming edges if necessary. Gently spread top of layer with 1/3 of the raspberry mixture, and then 1/3 of the whipped cream. Reapeat to make 2 more layers; garnish with remaining 1 cup of raspberries. Refrigerate until ready to serve, up to 24 hours.
• **For Individual Trifles** Follow steps 1-4. Then in each of ten 1 1/2 c capacity glass serving dishes or wineglasses, follow procedure in step 5, making only 2 layers in each glass.

Steps:

• Pour the milk into a microwave proof pitcher, and cook in the microwave on high until the milk begins to simmer, 4 to 5 minutes depending on the microwave. Meanwhile, whisk the eggs together with 1/4 cup sugar in a large bowl. Once the milk is hot, slowly drizzle into the eggs while whisking until all of the milk has been incorporated. Scrape the custard into a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the custard has thickened enough to coat the back of a metal spoon, about 5 minutes. Pour the custard into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate several hours until cold.
• Whip the cream with the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar to firm peaks; set aside. Line the bottom and sides of a trifle bowl with half of the pound cake slices. Drizzle the pound cake slices with half of the sherry. Pour 1/3 of the cold custard into the trifle dish and smooth the top. Repeat to make two more layers of pound cake, sherry, and custard. Top with whipped cream.
• Cover the dish with plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving to allow the flavors to blend.

Steps:

• Mix half of the strawberries, 1/2 cup of sugar, and 1 envelope of gelatin in a bowl. Set aside at room temperature to allow the juices to develop and the sugar and gelatin to dissolve, about 15 minutes. Heat in the microwave for 2 minutes on full power, or until gelatin has dissolved. Stir to blend in the gelatin and then mix in the remaining strawberries.
• In a separate bowl, mash 1 cup of the blue berries with the back of a fork. Stir in 1/2 cup of sugar, and 1 envelope of gelatin. Set aside at room temperature to allow the juices to develop and the sugar and gelatin to dissolve. Heat in the microwave for about 2 minutes to melt the gelatin, then stir to blend. Mix in the remaining blueberries.
• Cover the bottom and sides of a springform or a tall, removable bottom tube pan tightly with aluminum foil to keep the juices from seeping out.
• Pour all of the strawberry mixture into the bottom of the cake pan, cover completely with slices of angel food cake, tearing or cutting pieces to fit in a tight layer. Spread 1 container of whipped topping over the first cake layer. Make a second layer of angel food cake, like the first, and pour the blueberry mixture evenly over the top. Arrange the angel food cake in a third layer on top of the blueberries, spread the remaining container of whipped topping on top. Finish the dessert with a final layer of angel food cake.
• The layered cake will be higher than the edges of your pan. Carefully lay a large piece of aluminum foil over the cake and place a baking sheet on top. Invert the cake, press the cake firmly onto the baking sheet. Weigh down the mold, using pie weights or bags of dry beans or rice; refrigerate 8 hours, or overnight.
• Soak a kitchen towel in very hot water, wring out excess water, and wrap the towel around the cake pan; let stand for 1 minute. Remove the towel. Holding the pan and plate together, shake the cake back and forth to release it from the sides of the pan. Open the springform ring carefully, or pull back the sides of the tube pan. Do not force the cake to release. If it continues to stick, repeat the procedure with the hot towel.

Steps:

• In 8 large brandy snifters or a 2-quart clear bowl, layer ingredients in order given and garnish with cherries. Chill about an hour to blend flavors.

Steps:

• In 8 large brandy sniffers or a 2-quart clear glass bowl, layer ingredients in order given, and garnish with cherries. Chill about an hour to blend flavors.