Heather Haven is a multi-award winning mystery author. Her work includes the Silicon Valley based Alvarez Family Murder Mysteries, the NYC trail-blazing WWII lady shamus of The Persephone Cole Vintage Mysteries, a stand-alone mystery noir, and an anthology of stories. Her latest endeavor is Christmas Trifle, Book One of the Snow Lake Romantic Suspense Series. Learn more about Heather and her books at her website.
A trifle is a wonderful
thing. How can you go wrong when combining cake, pudding, jam, fruit, and
whipped cream? Then for the adult version, there is the added touch of liquor.
In short, trifle, any type of trifle, is going to be a winner.
Today we’re going to “build”
a trifle that is not only delicious to eat but beautiful to look at. I am
“repurposing” the recipe used by Chef Charly Harding, one of the two
protagonists in Christmas Trifle, Book One of the Snow Lake Romantic
Suspense Novels. As owner of an upscale, first-class restaurant, she does
everything the correct and perfect way, long and arduous though that way may
be. Not only is Charly an executive chef, but she has many underlings working
for her who are able to perform the tasks required to do things the Cordon Bleu
way.
But that’s fiction. This is
real life. So we’re going to do things the Heather Haven way. Black Forest
Christmas Trifle is actually based on a recipe I’ve been using for years as my
grand dessert for parties thrown around the holidays.
First you need to decide how
much time, effort and $$$ you want to put into this dessert, as well as how
many you hope to feed. Then adjust the recipe accordingly. Through the years, I
have made trifle a variety of ways, depending on which of the above three
things I could afford.
I have baked my own cake or bought
it. I have whipped up my own whipped cream or used Cool Whip. I have made
pudding from scratch in a double boiler or bought instant. I have added
expensive liqueurs or used inexpensive brandy. I have made trifle for four and
for sixty. No matter. It has always been a showstopper, especially over the
holidays.
Make this dessert your own. Shine
with it. There are dozens of recipes out there, all of them no doubt just as wonderful.
In fact, in Christmas Trifle, Charly’s former partner and husband Cliff,
who is also a marvelous chef, created his own Strawberry Pistachio Trifle,
which won numerous awards. And it is delicious.
But I’m a little prejudice.
For the holidays, you can’t beat the colors and tastes of the Black Forest
Christmas Trifle. Give it a try and see if you don’t agree!
Black Forest Trifle
Serves 8-12
Ingredients:
Clear glass bowl, approx. 96 oz.
1 box chocolate cake mix that doesn’t require oil
(You can also either purchased chocolate pound cake without icing or bake your
own.)
32 oz. bag frozen dark sweet
cherries
1/4-1/2 cup brandy (optional)
5.1 oz. box JELL-O Vanilla Instant Pudding & Pie Filling
Mix
Red and green food coloring
Almond extract
Mint extract
Cherry extract
4 oz. almonds, blanched and slivered
12 oz. black cherry preserves
12 oz. Cool Whip or stabilized whipped cream*
Sprig of mint (optional)
The Night Before:
Bake chocolate cake divided into two pans. Allow to
cool overnight.
Defrost the cherries. Add optional brandy. Mix well. Let
sit in the fridge overnight.
The Day of:
Make your pudding according to directions but use 3
cups of milk minus 1 T. Divide
evenly into 3 bowls. Add to one bowl 1/2 tsp. almond extract. Add to the second
bowl 3/4 tsp. cherry extract and 3 drops red food coloring. Add to the third
bowl 1/2 tsp. mint extract and 3 drops green food coloring.
Drain cherries, reserving the liquid to use
elsewhere, such as over vanilla ice cream.
Cut cake into bite-size pieces.
If using whipped cream instead of Cool Whip, make the
stabilized whipped cream:
Build the Trifle:
(Note: For a perfect appearance, if you splatter some
of the ingredients as you’re layering your trifle, wipe inside of glass with a
clean cloth as you work.)
To the bottom of the glass bowl add 1/4 of the
chocolate cake spread in an even layer. Add 1/4 of the cherries scattered
around.
Add the almond/vanilla pudding, spread evenly. Sprinkle
the almond slivers evenly on top of pudding.
Add 1/4 of the chocolate cake in another even layer.
Scatter another 1/4 of the cherries over the cake. Add dollops of cherry jam.
Spread cherry pudding evenly on top.
Add 1/2 the whipped cream, spreading evenly, then
another 1/4 of the chocolate cake and another 1/4 of the cherries. Spread mint
pudding evenly over cherries and add more dollops of jam.
Spread the remainder of the whipped cream evenly over
the cherries and jam. Cover with remaining cherries. Add a sprig of mint to the
top.
Refrigerate several hours before serving.
* To make stabilized whipped cream, combine 2 T.
sugar and 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar. Whip 2 cups heavy cream at high speed to form
soft peaks. Add in your sugar/cream of tartar and 2 tsp. vanilla. Continue whipping
to form firm peaks.
Christmas Trifle
A Snow Lake Romantic Suspense, Book 1
When
chefs Charly and Cliff Harding divorce, she gets custody of their upscale
restaurant and its namesake, Felix, the cat. He gets custody of their
dog, Oscar. What they both still have custody of, though, is each other’s
heart and seem to be the only two people in the small ski resort town of Snow
Lake, Nevada, that don’t know it.
When Cliff opens his own
restaurant in direct competition with Charly, bad things start to
happen. Death threats, accidents, and murder are now on the menu. Their
‘if-you-can’t-take-the-heat-then-get-out-of-the-kitchen’ battles are
backfiring. Regrets consume them. But can they find their way back to each other?
Or is it too late? Because they just might spend the rest of their lives in
prison unjustly accused of murder. Or can love triumph over even murder?
Buy Links
