Creole Christmas Trifle Recipes

CHRISTMAS TRIFLE

Steps:

• Slice the jelly rolls into 1-inch pieces. Line a glass trifle bowl with the sliced jelly rolls. Drizzle 1/2 cup of sherry over the jelly roll slices. Toss the raspberries with 1 tablespoon of sugar or to taste and spoon over the jelly roll slices.
• In a bowl, whisk together the egg, egg yolks, and 1/2 cup of sugar until smooth; whisk in the flour until thoroughly combined and free of lumps. Pour milk and half-and-half into a saucepan; heat over medium heat until the milk mixture is steaming hot but not simmering. Whisk about 1/4 cup of the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture until smooth; repeat, whisking the hot milk in thoroughly each time, until you have whisked in about 3/4 cup of the hot milk mixture. Whisk the milk-egg mixture back into the steaming milk in the saucepan. Reduce heat to low. Whisking constantly, heat the sauce until it is thickened and just at the point of simmering (do not boil sauce), 3 to 4 minutes. Whisk in vanilla extract, 2 tablespoons of sherry, and butter. Allow the sauce to cool for about 10 minutes, whisking often to avoid lumps.
• Pour the custard over the raspberries in the trifle bowl, cover bowl with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled and set, at least 2 hours. Garnish with dollops of whipped cream, more raspberries, and chocolate shavings if desired.

RUSSIAN CAKE (CREOLE TRIFLE

Steps:

• Mix rum, anise, jam and (optionally) the food color with a wire whisk until everything is well integrated; the alcohol in the rum helps dissolve the jam quickly so it shouldn't be more than 30 seconds.
• Pour evenly over your cake pieces and place bowl in fridge for a few hours or overnight (covered). The more cake pieces you use for the inside, the denser and heavier the cake will be. The Russian cakes I remember weighed several pounds and seemed very heavy for their size.
• When ready to assemble cake, bake your boxed cake according to instructions in a 9-inch cake pan. When cool split the cake evenly down the middle. Place one half in a 9-inch springform pan (one used for cheesecakes) and "fill" with your soaked cake pieces. Try to get this even as possible.
• Place top layer over "filling" and cover with plastic wrap, the plastic touching the top of the cake. I placed my cleaned cake pan over the top of this and weighed it down with jars from the fridge. The reason I did this was to make sure that the cake was flat, number one, but also I wanted some of the "juice" from the middle to seep into the top and bottom layer, thereby binding the cake together.
• Place in fridge overnight (make sure it's covered). The next day, frost the top and cover with sprinkles.

CREOLE CHRISTMAS TRIFLE

Steps:

• To assemble trifle: Beat the cream with an electric mixer on high speed for about 2 min. Add the sugar and beat until the mixture is thick and forms soft peaks, 1-2 min. Set aside. Beat the coconut custard with a wire whisk until it is smooth. Set aside. Pour the orange liqueur into a small bowl. Dip each macaroon in the liqueur, submerging for 2-3 sec, then transfer them to a sheet of parchment or waxed paper. Spread 1 C of the coconut cream filling on the bottom of a large, deep glass trifle bowl. Top with 8-10 macaroons, placing them snugly against each other. Arrange 2 pints of the raspberries on top of the macaroons. Spread 2 cups of the coconut cream on top of the raspberries. Top with more macaroons, then 2 pints of raspberries. Spread another 2 cups of the coconut cream and top with the remaining macaroons and raspberries. Spread the remaining coconut cream on top of the raspberries. Mound the whipped cream evenly over the top. Serve immediately or keep chilled until ready to serve.