RASPBERRY TRIFLE/ Family Rated!
Over the years, I have learned to make some form of Trifle which is fruit, layered with cake bits, pudding and whipped cream. Most English recipes use sherry or rum, but the trifles I make have a family rating. Through trial and error, I have learned this is a good way to use fresh fruit and berries in season. It is also a good way to provide dessert for a lot of people, such as a family reunion or several woofers returning from a day on Bell Island or the folk festival. The other reason I made raspberry trifle is that I thought it might offer up raspberries in a form that Mike, my husband and partner on the Organic Farm would enjoy. He doesn’t like raspberries, which just happen to be our fruit in season right now. He likes almost all of the fruit on the farm - rhubarb, strawberries, gooseberries, currants, even saskatoon berries, but not raspberries. Last evening, he had seconds of the raspberry trifle. In a surprised voice, he said, “ I like it. You can’t really taste the raspberries, along with the bananas and whipped cream. This makes it a 3 star out of 4 at our house and is why I think the bananas and whipped cream, not sherry or rum are the essential ingredients.

I have never had a recipe for Trifles until today. I decided to look it up today to ensure that the advice offered up under the name of English Trifle had some authenticity. There are indeed a half dozen recipes of variations of ENGLISH TRIFLE. on COOKS.COM. You may want to save the guess work and go to COOKS.COM.

WOOFERS’ RASPBERRY TRIFLE

You will need: One or two kinds of fresh Fruit ( i.e. strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, bananas, Mandarins, orange sections, perhaps Kiwi if they are already on hand); at least one kind of canned fruit, i.e. pineapple tid bits with juice. I use pineapple and usually peach halves, cut into slices and juice from both; however, if you are making a smaller trifle, you may not want to open two different cans of fruit because you will not use it all in a small trifle. You will also need some kind of cake, vanilla pudding and whipped cream. Prepare pudding according to directions on package. Instead of additional milk, add juice from canned fruit to make the consistency more like a topping, rather than a thick pudding. Reserve remainder of juice for sprinkling on bottom half when building the trifle. Have on hand chilled whipped cream in a carton to be whipped, 500 ml. Or 250 ml. Or if in a hurry, grab a can of prepared whip cream, real cream, not coconut oil base. Use any kind of cake, homemade or store bought pound cake, angel food or simple white cake. Many of the on-line recipes suggest lady fingers. I have no experience with lady fingers; they were not part of my cultural heritage like vanilla wafers, so I never think about buying them. For the Trifle on Sunday, I baked a single layer cake from a white cake mix which I bought at the local convenience store. Absolutely, nothing special.

Situate raspberries in a bowl and sprinkle with sugar to marinate. Prepare pudding and whip cream. Slice peaches, apples, whatever, into small pieces. Set out all ingredients around the bowl you will use to serve the trifle. Scatter pieces of cake on the bottom, sprinkle in canned fruit first, spilling any extra juice over cake pieces, cut in bananas, then a layer of pudding, adding fresh berries over pudding, then a layer of whipped cream. If you are making a “shorter” version, you might only use raspberries, pineapple tid bits and bananas. When you are finished, add more fresh fruit over the whipped cream as the top layer. If you are making a larger version, repeat layering, with the top layer being another thin dressing of whipped cream. Decorate with the featured fruit, i.e. raspberries. Do not sprinkle in a hap hazard fashion over the top. , but clustered in some creative way, perhaps around the sides with some little design in the middle/ a sprig of mint and a raspberry or two. My version included a huge, edible lily situated perfectly on a cushion of whipped cream in the centre. Rachel’s mother took an artsy type of picture, which we hope to get on the website soon.

Enjoy! And if you have a better way to use fresh raspberries, please share it with us. We will post it in our recipe section. (Melba/ August, 2009)