We had a lovely 4th of July with family at my Aunt and Uncle's annual archery contest up in Sandy, near Mt. Hood. I was not shooting my best, but the food was delicious. The patriotic dessert table was a highlight as was holding newborn babies, bringing home 2 dozen fresh eggs, and falling in love with a pygmy goat.
I made this red white and blue trifle. I bonded with it and now am thinking about endless variations. Even though I am a huge tiramisu fan (or maybe because of that?) anything with ladyfingers. It feels so magical—layering ingredients, chilling, and voilà, it becomes a cake! It reminds me of the thrill I get making zebra cake.
I gave a lot of thought (too much, some might say) as to what I should bring to this event. I always bring a side dish and a dessert, usually a buckle, pie, or cake. They travel welI and are always popular. But, I was itching to do something different. I also wanted it to be red, white and blue. And it had to travel. There were issues. I decided putting the finished trifle (while still in the pan) into a cold cooler was key. It's a long drive.
The benefits of the trifle were many—it was super fast to make the night before and required no baking. Serving it was easy. It sliced into tidy pieces because it was still cold, so it never looked pre-chewed the way some desserts look when sitting out too long being hacked into for hours. It also used up a lot of hoarded berries making room for berry hoarding this year.
I stuck to the recipe. A spring form pan is crucial. I used a mix of frozen berries that I had and didn't worry about making one layer red and one blue. It was all good.
I did use purchased mascarpone but next time I will make it myself from this wonderful book because (A) I can. (B) I had to buy heavy cream for this, so why not just buy a bit more? 'Cause that's all mascarpone is — cream and vinegar and some time. And the almost $5 for 7 oz. was irritating.
As much as I loved the clean and simple flavors of this dessert, after eating it, I felt a strong urge to add chocolate. If fact, the next day chased a piece with chocolate chips and it was even better. At least in my mouth it was. I love berries and semi-sweet chocolate, so I think a chocolate ganache drizzle between layers would be lovey, or maybe chocolate ganache served on the side to drizzle on top. That would be perfect. So there's a choice to chocolate-it-up, or not.
Let's pretend I am hitting a bullseye here.
