One of the greatest delights of summer are all of the fresh, local berries that come to market. They all look so beautiful and are loaded with so much more flavor and sweetness. When these berries become available, my mind always wanders to a trifle…. a few ingredients combined with these summer fruits produces a most sumptuous summer dessert.
The potential varieties for trifles is endless, since you could use any fruits, jam, cake and brandy that suits your fancy {or that you happen to have on hand}. A creamy custard binds these ingredients together. After making the custard, the assembly process is quite simple and store bought ingredients makes it even easier.
Another nice feature of the dessert is that it is best when made the day before and stored in the refrigerator overnight to allow all of the flavors to meld. For complete instructions and a recipe, visit this Berry Trifle post I wrote awhile back {something this good needs to be pulled from the archives from time to time, don’t you think?}.
For this strawberry trifle I used a nice, tangy lemon tea loaf from Trader Joe’s.
I sliced the loaf length wise
and then sandwiched the layers together with the absolutely most delicious jam in the world, a Cherry Jam that is also from Trader Joe’s.
Have you tried this jam? You must!
In fact if you don’t have a Trader Joe’s email me and I’ll send you a jar, it is THAT good. It is loaded with whole tangy cherries and it is the most textural, flavorful and delicious jam I’ve ever tasted! Truly!
I used the teacake sandwiches to line the sides and bottoms of my trifle bowl.
Then I sprinkled the cake with a generous shot of brandy from some brandied cherries I keep in the refrigerator;
and layered on the custard;
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and sliced strawberries;
and then repeated the process until the bowl was full.
After covering the trifle with plastic wrap, I left it in the refrigerator overnight and by the time dessert rolled around the following evening, I had a beautiful, homey, fresh and flavorful dessert ready to be topped with whipped cream and served.
In case you missed it, HERE is a link to the complete recipe and instructions from an earlier post I wrote on a mixed berry trifle. I hope you have a chance to try it.
What are some of your favorite summer desserts?
This looks fabulous, as always Emily! I am jealous of anyone that is near a Trader Joe's. Every good idea I see has something to do with Trader Joe's. I am finding the closest one and making a day trip and load up. Hope that you are having a nice summer.
Happy Wednesday.
Teresa
xoxo