Very Berry Trifle

Even after everything that I've made in the history of my blog, this is my most favorite. It has everything I love in a great dessert: thick buttery pound cake, lovely sweet berry flavor, a glorious vanilla pastry cream, and dreamy whipped cream. This is my idea of comfort food.
Many years ago I threw a baby shower for my friend Laura. It was my first big party and I wanted to make it extra special, so I went all out. This was years before I had ever had any confidence as a baker so I ordered a trifle from this little old lady that I met during a Curves class (ahh... Curves!). I was dead set on a cake but she suggested it because it would be cheaper to make and it would feed a lot of people too and it was perfect for a girly baby shower. She wasn't kidding that it would feed a lot of people; even after serving it to over 30 people, my family and I was still eating it a full week after the party. (I don't have pictures of that trifle available but the pictures at the top and bottom of the page are of one very large trifle I made for a baby shower a few years ago. That's double the size of the recipe listed in this post.)

Although I never asked the lady for the recipe, I came up with what I think is a very close approximation. I dare say it might even be a little better. I've made this several times: for BBQs, baby showers, birthdays, and it's always a sure fire hit. If you're looking for a good Sara Lee Pound Cake copycat recipe, you will LOVE the one I included below. I learned about it from my friend Emily who made it one day at work and I couldn't believe how good it tasted. The secret is Vanilla Butter Nut Extract, which can be a little hard to find depending on where you live.

You'll notice that the recipe is really long but don't be frightened. I just like to give lots of detailed instructions. I urge you to try this for your next big group event and have copies of the recipe ready.... or maybe you'll just keep this one to yourself. :)

Very Berry Trifle
Yield: The big trifle with the flowers on it fed *a lot* of people; I'd say roughly 30-40 servings, depending on the portion size. The smaller one feeds about 15-20 servings.

15 cup trifle bowl or large glass bowl with high sides (like a bunch bowl)
2 piping bags or large zip lock bag (Why use a bag? I prefer using a bag because it gives you better control over the pastry and whipped creams as you're adding it to the bowl. In the end gives a prettier, more even and consistent layer. If you're not concerned about the look of your layers, or you're using a bowl that textured or opaque, then you can skip this step and just use a spoon/spatula.)

Make 24 Hours Ahead:
1 1/2 Sour Cream Pound Cakes (1 large and 1 small  or 3 small sized store bought pound cakes)
Vanilla Pastry Cream
Macerated Berries

Make the day of, right before you're ready to assemble:
Whipped cream
Fresh Fruit Layer - This is optional. It provides a colorful layer of fresh fruit for your trifle that brings a bit of visual interest to the look of the dessert. If you're using a textured bowl or one that is opaque in color, then this step is not necessary. If you want to include this then you will need a pint each of any fruit fresh fruit that you're using in the trifle. Typically and depending on the availability of the produce, I like to use strawberries and blueberries because they look the best. Raspberries and Blackberries tend to be too soft and get mushy looking against the glass of the trifle bowl.
Getting Ready
Inspect the bowl that you're going to use, inside and out, being sure to remove any fingerprints that may appear on the surface of the glass.

If you're including a fresh fruit layer, clean and rinse the strawberries and any other fruit you might be using. For the strawberries, slice up a few lengthwise and reserve the larger, red center pieces that have good color. Keep all the ones that are of similar color, shape, and size. Lay each slice on a layer of paper towel. Dry the blueberries or other berry on paper towels too. How much will you need? It's hard to tell you how many slices you'll need because it depends on how thick you slice them, the circumference of the bowl, and how far a part you want to space them. For a 15 cup trifle bowl, I used about 10-14 slices of strawberry and the same amount of blueberries.

Put the pastry cream in a pastry bag -- no need for a tip.

Put the whipped cream in a pastry bag with a star tip of your choice.

Remove the outermost layers of the pound cake and save in a separate bowl. Cut 1/2 inch slices from the cake.

Mix up the berries and carefully cut up any big strawberries with the side of a spoon.

Assembling the Trifle
This trifles is three layers deep. Each layer consists of cake, berries, pastry cream, and whipped cream, in that order.

First Layer
Arrange cake slices into the bottom of the trifle bowl, placing them right up against the edge of the bowl. Cut small pieces to fit in empty spaces until the bottom is close to being one solid layer of cake. Remember that no one is really going to see this so it doesn't matter how it looks. Just try to keep each layer about the same height. Using a spoon, collect a little of the juice and saturate the cake a bit to get it a little soggy. The, with a slotted spoon add about a third of just the berries directly on top of the cake, staying about 1/2 inch away from the edges of the glass bowl. Then spoon several large spoonfuls of just the juice over the cake. Maybe 1/2 cup or so. When the cake looks about 80 juice-stained you're done. :)

Carefully pipe a layer of pastry cream around the edges of the bowl, working in a spiral to the center. The most important part of the spiral is the outermost edge; the rest of your spiral doesn't have to look perfect.

Carefully piper a layer of the whipped cream around the edges of the bowl, working in a spiral to the center. The most important part of the spiral is the outermost edge; the rest of your spiral doesn't have to look perfect.

Second Layer
Gently arrange a second layer of cake slices into the top of the first full layer, being careful not to pack them too solidly. Cut small pieces to fit in empty spaces until the bottom is close to being one solid layer of cake.
Add your fresh fruit layer. I like to start with the strawberries and place them one at a time, across from each other, working my way around the bowl. I find this works better than placing them side by side because I always end up with a space that's too big or too small for another whole strawberry slice. Once you place a strawberry slice against the glass of the bowl, you really don't want to remove it. If you do it will leave a little footprint behind and you'll need to wipe the glass off before you can continue. To the right you'll find a little diagram that helps you to understand the method I use. The red circles with the numbers are the strawberries in the order that I add them and the little blue circles are the blueberries. The bottoms of the strawberries should just be touching the top of the last layer of pound cake.

Using a slotted spoon, add about a third of just the berries directly on top of the cake, staying about 1/2 inch away from the edges of the glass bowl. Then spoon several large spoonfuls of just the juice over the cake. Maybe 1/2 cup or so. When the cake looks about 80 juice-stained you're done. :)

Add a layer of pastry cream and pipe it behind the fresh fruit that's stuck against the side of the bowl. Continue the spiral to the center.

Carefully piper a layer of the whipped cream around the edges of the bowl, working in a spiral to the center. The most important part of the spiral is the outermost edge; the rest of your spiral doesn't have to look perfect.

Third (Final) Layer
Add a final layer of cake just as you did with the previous two layers.

Add the berries and be a little more generous with the juice and the berries. You don't want to add too much more, but just enough that it causes a nice trickle-down effect down through the other layers of the dessert. Carefully pipe a layer of pastry cream around the edges of the bowl, working in a spiral to the center. The most important part of the spiral is the outermost edge; the rest of your spiral doesn't have to look perfect.

Finally, pipe the top with whipped cream. You can spoon it on and then smooth it out with a spatula or you can pipe little stars of whipped cream all around the top in concentric circles until you get to the center.

Cover and store in the refrigerator for at least 8 to 24 hours - the longer the better. Seriously, don't try to cheat and only refrigerate it for 2 hours and expect the magic to happen. Decorate the top with edible flowers or pieces of fresh fruit.

Recipes
Sour Cream Pound Cake
adapted from McCormick.com

2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup full-fat sour cream
4 eggs, at room temperature
1 tablespoon McCormick® Imitation Vanilla Butter & Nut Flavor or vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of kosher salt

Preheat oven to 325F. Grease and flour 9x5-inch loaf pan or spray with Pam with Flour; set aside.

In a small bowl, sift the flour, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside

Beat butter, sugar and sour cream in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy - about 5 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating 1 full minute after each addition. Add extract and mix for 30 seconds. Gradually beat in flour mixture until no traces of flour appear in the batter (about 1 minute or so). Pour into prepared pan and smooth out the top.

Place the pan on a thin cookie sheet and bake 1 hour and 10 minutes (maybe as long as 30 minutes) or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack. Sprinkle with confectioners' sugar, if desired.

Note: This is best made two days in advance. For the trifle, store uncovered and unwrapped so that it gets a little stale. If you're making this for something other than the trifle, wrap it in plastic or store in a covered container.

Vanilla Pastry Cream
2 cups half and half
1 1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs (at room temperature)
2 large egg yolk (at room temperature)
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
3 teaspoons vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste (all the specks looks so lovely)

Bring half and half to simmer in heavy medium saucepan. While the milk is warming up, whisk sugar, eggs, egg yolk and flour in medium bowl to blend. Once the milk is hot (but not boiling) very gradually, whisk in half of the hot half and half, whisking quickly so as not to scramble the eggs. Transfer to saucepan. Whisk over medium heat until mixture thickens and comes to boil, about 5 minutes. Boil 1 minute. Pour into medium bowl. Stir in vanilla. Optional step: Pour the pastry cream through a wire mesh filter to ensure a smooth texture. Press plastic onto surface of pastry cream. Cover; chill until cold, about 4 hours. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled. Try not to eat the whole bowl :-))

Macerated Berries
1 16 oz bag of frozen mixed berries (raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries from Trader Joe's is my favorite) or 4 pints of fresh berries of your choice
1 16 oz bag of frozen strawberries or 4 pints of fresh strawberries of your choice
1/2 cup of sugar

A day or two before you want to assemble the trifle, dump the frozen berries into a large bowl. Pour the sugar over the berries, add 1/2 cup of water, mix it up, cover, and stick it in the fridge. Every 12 hours or so, mix well.

Whipped Cream
3 cups very cold whipping cream
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Beat cream, powdered sugar and vanilla in large bowl until stiff peaks form. (Can be made 4 hours ahead. Cover and chill.)

Have Leftover Ingredients?
This recipe isn't one that's measured out perfectly and you'll more than likely have cake, pastry cream, berries, and whipped cream left over. And since I typically make this for some big event, I rarely get any. So, if you're in the same boat or have a neighbor or friend you'd like to treat, do what I do. Take some of the cake cuttings that I have left over, break them up into smaller pieces. Combine it with any left over pastry cream and any left over berries, juice and all. Mix it up well and squish it down into a small bowl so it's about 2-4 inches high. Spread any left over whipped cream on top and stick it in the fridge overnight. It won't be as pretty as your trifle but it will be super yummy!