Last night was book club night, and I spent several days thinking about what kind of dessert would echo the theme of the book. Since the book was about the decline of a marriage after a mountain-climbing incident, the task wasn't easy.
BUT--at one point in the story, a character mentioned that another character always served trifles. Ta da! Easy.
Now--I don't know about you, but a trifle has always seemed insultingly easy. Don't you just throw some store-bought sponge cake, vanilla pudding, and strawberries into a bowl?
So I decided to use my new cookbook--BAKING AND PASTRY, the textbook from the Culinary Institute of America, and I found that making a trifle wasn't so simple. But oh, it was delicious.
(BTW, if you have to feed an army or a large group, this is the cookbook for you!)
First, I had to make the spongecake, so I made that on Saturday night. Actually, I made FOUR huge spongecakes, because these recipes don't come in small batches. :-) But I didn't mind, because I knew I could freeze the cakes for later.
Sunday night I had to make the pastry cream, and since that recipe would only keep for three days, I did make a a small, one-pound batch.
And finally, last night I had to assemble the trifle. I began by coating the bottom of the trifle bowl with currant jam. Yum. Then I blended sherry with simple syrup, reserved that in a bowl. Cubed the spongecake, then poured the sherry/syrup mixture over the cake to moisten the lot.
Then I had to whip 16 oz. of heavy cream; easy enough, and into that I blended the pound of pastry cream from the fridge.
Finally, I cut up some lovely strawberries and mixed with a package of fresh raspberries. Then into the bowl they went--jam, cake, fruit, cream, more cake, more fruit, more cream. Finally, I piped rosettes around the top, and made a mini-mountain in the center, to honor our book. :-)
And then--ooo la la. It was delicious, if I do say so myself. I have a feeling I'm going to like this new cookbook. :-)
Hope your baking adventures are delightful!
~~Angie
BUT--at one point in the story, a character mentioned that another character always served trifles. Ta da! Easy.
Now--I don't know about you, but a trifle has always seemed insultingly easy. Don't you just throw some store-bought sponge cake, vanilla pudding, and strawberries into a bowl?
So I decided to use my new cookbook--BAKING AND PASTRY, the textbook from the Culinary Institute of America, and I found that making a trifle wasn't so simple. But oh, it was delicious.
(BTW, if you have to feed an army or a large group, this is the cookbook for you!)
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| Step one: red currant jelly into bowl |
First, I had to make the spongecake, so I made that on Saturday night. Actually, I made FOUR huge spongecakes, because these recipes don't come in small batches. :-) But I didn't mind, because I knew I could freeze the cakes for later.
Sunday night I had to make the pastry cream, and since that recipe would only keep for three days, I did make a a small, one-pound batch.
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| 2: Bake a lovely sponge cake. (or buy one.) |
Then I had to whip 16 oz. of heavy cream; easy enough, and into that I blended the pound of pastry cream from the fridge.
Finally, I cut up some lovely strawberries and mixed with a package of fresh raspberries. Then into the bowl they went--jam, cake, fruit, cream, more cake, more fruit, more cream. Finally, I piped rosettes around the top, and made a mini-mountain in the center, to honor our book. :-)
And then--ooo la la. It was delicious, if I do say so myself. I have a feeling I'm going to like this new cookbook. :-)
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| Cut said cake into cubes, then cover with syrup mixture. |
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| Cover with fresh fruit of your choosing. |
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| Cover with cream, then repeat. Smooth top, pipe on decorations. |
1 comment:
Yum!
But you should try baking that at altitude. That's a whole different story. I've never baked a cake that didn't collapse in the middle.
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