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Rum Berry Trifle
An elegant and tasty dessert with a dramatic presentation. The presence of rum makes these a bit more "adult". Feel free to leave it out if serving to youngsters. But it does lose something if you do.
Layers of different berry flavors, combined with rum-syrup enhanced lady fingers and sponge cake, and rum-enhanced vanilla custard pudding give this dessert all sorts of delightful complexity. Every bite delivers a different combination of flavors.
Surprisingly, these weren't that difficult to make, though letting the pudding set and the fruits rest in the fridge did require a bit of time (unattended). The hardest part was not devouring these before time!
Berry Trifle with Rum Custard
Ingredients
Fruit:
1 basket (Pint) fresh field strawberries
2 baskets (half pint) red raspberries
1 basket (half pint) Wild blackberries (tart, but stronger flavor)
1 basket (half pint) cultivated blackberries (sweeter, larger, but milder flavor)
1 basket (half pint) blueberries
Custard:
2 C cold milk (2%)
1 box French Vanilla "no-cook" Jello Brand pudding
1 generous tablespoon Dark Rum
Rum Syrup:
1/3 C Sugar
1/4 C Dark Rum
1/2 C water
dash salt
Other:
3 large "fancy" glasses
1 can "spray" whipped cream
3 sponge cake "rounds" for short cakes
16-20 soft, tender Lady Fingers
Note - my glasses were quite wide and large, so the sponge cake "rounds" made prep faster. You may wish to use more lady fingers if they fit your glass better, and leave off the sponge cake. Or vice versa.
Directions:
Prep the fruit
Take 3/4 each of the raspberries and blackberries. Put them in their own small bowls and sprinkle about 1 Tablespoon of sugar over each.
Partially mash the berries with a potato masher or similar implement, and stir them around to mix.
Add in the rest of the un-mashed fruit, reserving a few of the best looking specimens of each for garnish. Stir the whole fruit in to the mashed, and refrigerate for at least an hour (or more) to give up their juices.
Slice the strawberries (reserving 3 good looking ones for garnish) put in a bowl and sprinkle with sugar. Stir to distribute and refrigerate with the other berries.
Chill the blueberries, but don't mash or add sugar.
Prep the custard
In a small bowl, whisk together the contents of the box of Jello pudding and 2 cups cold milk until completely combined and it begins thickening a tiny bit.
Add 1 generous tablespoon of dark rum and whisk into the pudding mix.
Place bowl in refrigerator to set up (about an hour).
Prep the syrup
In a small sauce pan, combine Dark Rum, Sugar, salt, and Water over med-high heat, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves and mixture comes to a rolling boil.
Allow to boil until syrup reduces to about 1/2 volume.
Cool, then pour into a squeeze bottle and chill in the refrigerator.
ASSEMBLE THE TRIFLE
(You can make the layers in any order. Here's how wuff did the ones pictured:)
Spoon a small portion of the custard into the bottom of each glass.
Add a layer of the sliced strawberries.
Add a layer of the sponge cake. Squirt it with a generous amount of the rum syrup.
Add another layer of custard.
Add another layer of strawberries. Set them up with a thin layer of custard.
Add a layer of the blackberries.
Add a layer of lady fingers. Squirt with more rum syrup.
Add a thin layer of custard.
Add a layer of red raspberries.
If you want, you can stop here and refrigerate these until just before serving.
Squirt in a thin layer of whipped cream.
Top the cream with a generous layer of blueberries.
Squirt on a mounded cone of whipped cream.
Garnish with a strawberry, sliced and "fanned", a couple "choice" blackberries, a few "choice" raspberries, and another sprinkle of a few blueberries.
Refrigerate the Trifles for a bit to allow the flavors to meld slightly, or you can serve immediately
Notes:
The rum flavor in the custard is quite noticeable, but not at all overpowering. However, if you aren't a fan of rum, you may wish to substitute another liqueur (perhaps amaretto, cognac, etc) or leave it out entirely.
The rum syrup is much more mildly flavored than the custard, and shouldn't be an issue, but does add a nice complexity to the confection.
There is actually very little alcohol in each serving; most of the rum in the syrup boils off, and there is only a tablespoon in the custard, distributed among three servings.
NOTE: As Vargr recently learned, you can substitute Sucralose (Splenda) one-for-one for the sugar in this recipe. This can significantly reduce the grams of sugar involved, especially if sugar-free Jello Pudding is used. However, you're still going to get a fair amount from the berries, lady fingers, and sponge cake. But for those on a diet or watching their sugar limits, every little bit helps!
Layers of different berry flavors, combined with rum-syrup enhanced lady fingers and sponge cake, and rum-enhanced vanilla custard pudding give this dessert all sorts of delightful complexity. Every bite delivers a different combination of flavors.
Surprisingly, these weren't that difficult to make, though letting the pudding set and the fruits rest in the fridge did require a bit of time (unattended). The hardest part was not devouring these before time!
Berry Trifle with Rum Custard
Ingredients
Fruit:
1 basket (Pint) fresh field strawberries
2 baskets (half pint) red raspberries
1 basket (half pint) Wild blackberries (tart, but stronger flavor)
1 basket (half pint) cultivated blackberries (sweeter, larger, but milder flavor)
1 basket (half pint) blueberries
Custard:
2 C cold milk (2%)
1 box French Vanilla "no-cook" Jello Brand pudding
1 generous tablespoon Dark Rum
Rum Syrup:
1/3 C Sugar
1/4 C Dark Rum
1/2 C water
dash salt
Other:
3 large "fancy" glasses
1 can "spray" whipped cream
3 sponge cake "rounds" for short cakes
16-20 soft, tender Lady Fingers
Note - my glasses were quite wide and large, so the sponge cake "rounds" made prep faster. You may wish to use more lady fingers if they fit your glass better, and leave off the sponge cake. Or vice versa.
Directions:
Prep the fruit
Take 3/4 each of the raspberries and blackberries. Put them in their own small bowls and sprinkle about 1 Tablespoon of sugar over each.
Partially mash the berries with a potato masher or similar implement, and stir them around to mix.
Add in the rest of the un-mashed fruit, reserving a few of the best looking specimens of each for garnish. Stir the whole fruit in to the mashed, and refrigerate for at least an hour (or more) to give up their juices.
Slice the strawberries (reserving 3 good looking ones for garnish) put in a bowl and sprinkle with sugar. Stir to distribute and refrigerate with the other berries.
Chill the blueberries, but don't mash or add sugar.
Prep the custard
In a small bowl, whisk together the contents of the box of Jello pudding and 2 cups cold milk until completely combined and it begins thickening a tiny bit.
Add 1 generous tablespoon of dark rum and whisk into the pudding mix.
Place bowl in refrigerator to set up (about an hour).
Prep the syrup
In a small sauce pan, combine Dark Rum, Sugar, salt, and Water over med-high heat, stirring constantly until sugar dissolves and mixture comes to a rolling boil.
Allow to boil until syrup reduces to about 1/2 volume.
Cool, then pour into a squeeze bottle and chill in the refrigerator.
ASSEMBLE THE TRIFLE
(You can make the layers in any order. Here's how wuff did the ones pictured:)
Spoon a small portion of the custard into the bottom of each glass.
Add a layer of the sliced strawberries.
Add a layer of the sponge cake. Squirt it with a generous amount of the rum syrup.
Add another layer of custard.
Add another layer of strawberries. Set them up with a thin layer of custard.
Add a layer of the blackberries.
Add a layer of lady fingers. Squirt with more rum syrup.
Add a thin layer of custard.
Add a layer of red raspberries.
If you want, you can stop here and refrigerate these until just before serving.
Squirt in a thin layer of whipped cream.
Top the cream with a generous layer of blueberries.
Squirt on a mounded cone of whipped cream.
Garnish with a strawberry, sliced and "fanned", a couple "choice" blackberries, a few "choice" raspberries, and another sprinkle of a few blueberries.
Refrigerate the Trifles for a bit to allow the flavors to meld slightly, or you can serve immediately
Notes:
The rum flavor in the custard is quite noticeable, but not at all overpowering. However, if you aren't a fan of rum, you may wish to substitute another liqueur (perhaps amaretto, cognac, etc) or leave it out entirely.
The rum syrup is much more mildly flavored than the custard, and shouldn't be an issue, but does add a nice complexity to the confection.
There is actually very little alcohol in each serving; most of the rum in the syrup boils off, and there is only a tablespoon in the custard, distributed among three servings.
NOTE: As Vargr recently learned, you can substitute Sucralose (Splenda) one-for-one for the sugar in this recipe. This can significantly reduce the grams of sugar involved, especially if sugar-free Jello Pudding is used. However, you're still going to get a fair amount from the berries, lady fingers, and sponge cake. But for those on a diet or watching their sugar limits, every little bit helps!
Category Resources / Tutorials
Species Unspecified / Any
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File Size 1.01 MB
Listed in Folders
Thank you so much! *hugs back happily* Vargr freely admits that he tends to get more than a little wordy. *grins* Never uses a sentence when a paragraph will do.
However, in the case of wuff's recipes, Vargr figures that it's better to put a bit too much instruction and information than too little. The experienced and confident cooks can just skim over the parts they already know. Or even better, offer wuffy alternative ideas, suggestion and techniques.
But if this wuff were to trim these down and use the "real chef-words", the beginner cooks might not understand some of those culinary terms or "everyone knows that" techniques. Terms like what "tempering" means when adding eggs to a hot sauce. Or how mixing flour and cold water into a slurry before adding it to a hot stew keeps the flour from lumping up.
Worse, they might just give up and skip the recipe rather than go looking for the technique or term than don't know. Then they both miss out on tasting the dish and miss out on the joy of a successful creative experience in the kitchen. To Vargr, that would be very sad indeed!
VARGR
However, in the case of wuff's recipes, Vargr figures that it's better to put a bit too much instruction and information than too little. The experienced and confident cooks can just skim over the parts they already know. Or even better, offer wuffy alternative ideas, suggestion and techniques.
But if this wuff were to trim these down and use the "real chef-words", the beginner cooks might not understand some of those culinary terms or "everyone knows that" techniques. Terms like what "tempering" means when adding eggs to a hot sauce. Or how mixing flour and cold water into a slurry before adding it to a hot stew keeps the flour from lumping up.
Worse, they might just give up and skip the recipe rather than go looking for the technique or term than don't know. Then they both miss out on tasting the dish and miss out on the joy of a successful creative experience in the kitchen. To Vargr, that would be very sad indeed!
VARGR
The other way around the chef word issue is to put the chef words in bold then at the bottom explain them. I'm terrible with chef words, I'm a good cook and indeed know most of the processes of cooking but no one ever taught me that there was a specific word to fit a given cooking method or action.
Sometimes a missing piece of information can be critical to the result.
A Christmas pudding recipe that works to perfection for one person, breaks up terribly for the second, along comes a third person who gets it to work perfectly because they know that something is missing from the recipe...case in point 'that the fruit to go in must be soaked overnight' This step was supposedly common knowledge however it wasn't written down fully...it was written in as 'soak fruit'
The same applies to chef words even the simple ones like de-glazing a pan, tempering or making a roux.
*hugs*
Sometimes a missing piece of information can be critical to the result.
A Christmas pudding recipe that works to perfection for one person, breaks up terribly for the second, along comes a third person who gets it to work perfectly because they know that something is missing from the recipe...case in point 'that the fruit to go in must be soaked overnight' This step was supposedly common knowledge however it wasn't written down fully...it was written in as 'soak fruit'
The same applies to chef words even the simple ones like de-glazing a pan, tempering or making a roux.
*hugs*
Precisely!
Vargr's human Author is a Technical Order writer/reviewer (when he isn't masquerading in the guise of a dragonwuff online *grins*), so has seen and heard of a LOT of examples where leaving out a bit of "everyone knows that" information, or failing to explain a somewhat obscure bit of technical jargon has created everything from confusion to major disasters. The "disasters" within a recipe a generally (but not always) less cataclysmic (you could still end up sick, or badly burned or cut, of course). But that doesn't mean one should ignore the possibility of simply being unable to recreate a desired recipe.
And "simple" is often also in the eye of the beholder. For example, everyone knows what chocolate is, right? But what if a recipe asked for "chocolate roux"? Wuffy would hate to taste the gumbo of a beginner who made their version with lots of cocoa powder, instead of cooking their flour and fat/butter until it turned dark brown. *chuckles*
That's a good idea, about defining the "chef-words" in the recipe. Vargr will have to consider that in future work.
Vargr's human Author is a Technical Order writer/reviewer (when he isn't masquerading in the guise of a dragonwuff online *grins*), so has seen and heard of a LOT of examples where leaving out a bit of "everyone knows that" information, or failing to explain a somewhat obscure bit of technical jargon has created everything from confusion to major disasters. The "disasters" within a recipe a generally (but not always) less cataclysmic (you could still end up sick, or badly burned or cut, of course). But that doesn't mean one should ignore the possibility of simply being unable to recreate a desired recipe.
And "simple" is often also in the eye of the beholder. For example, everyone knows what chocolate is, right? But what if a recipe asked for "chocolate roux"? Wuffy would hate to taste the gumbo of a beginner who made their version with lots of cocoa powder, instead of cooking their flour and fat/butter until it turned dark brown. *chuckles*
That's a good idea, about defining the "chef-words" in the recipe. Vargr will have to consider that in future work.
I have a friend in IT and I don't know how many times we have had to laugh rather than cry because the instructions given to one of the operators of the business he works for are not computer literate enough and miss a simple function that was never written down. He had one bloke that he ordered to play solitaire for two hours and told management not to complain about it as the guy didn't know the basic mouse controls. The one that worries me are the procedural mistakes taken in the medical and nursing industries. Its an issue that crosses all industries. I have a lot of friends in the correction side of this...One in Sydney writes a variety of manuals another one is a 'the buck stops here' nursing trainer and fails a lot of students rather than risk lives both written and practical. Of course the issue you end up with is differences from one country or region to another
I think the faccc actually has some links to 'chef speak' and a couple of journals on the subject. I would have to have a hunt through the journals to spot them though.
This is the most recent but its on Kitchen Slang (http://www.furaffinity.net/journals/faccc/#jid:5991295) as opposed to actual chef speak.
*hugs*
I think the faccc actually has some links to 'chef speak' and a couple of journals on the subject. I would have to have a hunt through the journals to spot them though.
This is the most recent but its on Kitchen Slang (http://www.furaffinity.net/journals/faccc/#jid:5991295) as opposed to actual chef speak.
*hugs*
*bounces happily* Thank you SO much for the report on the success! So happy to hear it all went well.
You're inspiring this wuffy to make a "Patriotic Parfait" next, using the lessons wuff has learned from this and from his "spring blueberry pie" recipe.
How does a red white and blue layered parfait of fresh strawberries (in the pie glaze), a layer of rum vanilla creme topped and floored with lady-fingers enhanced with the appropriate syrups, and a final layer of blueberry mousse sound? *grins* Top it all with a bit of whip cream and strawberries and blue berries for a repeat of the red/white/blue motif. :)
We might be well past our 4th of July holiday, but wuffy bets that would be tasty enough to eat any day! *grins*
You're inspiring this wuffy to make a "Patriotic Parfait" next, using the lessons wuff has learned from this and from his "spring blueberry pie" recipe.
How does a red white and blue layered parfait of fresh strawberries (in the pie glaze), a layer of rum vanilla creme topped and floored with lady-fingers enhanced with the appropriate syrups, and a final layer of blueberry mousse sound? *grins* Top it all with a bit of whip cream and strawberries and blue berries for a repeat of the red/white/blue motif. :)
We might be well past our 4th of July holiday, but wuffy bets that would be tasty enough to eat any day! *grins*
I'm sorry for late reply, but that Patriotic Parfait sounds delicious! I agree that it would be a joy to eat any day! *cheerfully smiles*
Your creations and recipes are so much fun to do. I also tried your Summer Fresh Berry Pie~ That was a great family dessert hit, especially with my little sister. She got quite a bit more on her face than she did in her mouth *chuckles*. Since Summer's nearly over, I've been making as many desserts as possible at all of these "end of summer" barbecues. I'm using the last of all my seasonal berries and fruits - and having lots of fun doing it!
Your creations and recipes are so much fun to do. I also tried your Summer Fresh Berry Pie~ That was a great family dessert hit, especially with my little sister. She got quite a bit more on her face than she did in her mouth *chuckles*. Since Summer's nearly over, I've been making as many desserts as possible at all of these "end of summer" barbecues. I'm using the last of all my seasonal berries and fruits - and having lots of fun doing it!
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