Almond Fresh Berry Trifle Food

ALMOND, BLUEBERRY, RASPBERRY TRIFLE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread all of the almonds (1½ cups) onto a cookie sheet and bake for 4 to 5 minutes or until the nuts just begin to brown and become aromatic. Remove from oven and let cool. Line the bottoms of two 9-inch cake pans with parchment or waxed paper and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
• Prepare the cake batter: Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl; set aside. Beat the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for 5 to 8 minutes or until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping between additions. Stir in the flour mix, almond extract and ½ cup of the toasted almonds until just blended. Do not over mix.
• Bake the cake: Fill each of the prepared pans with half of the batter. Place the pans in the center of the oven. Bake until the center is firm or when the tip of a small knife emerges clean when it pierces the center of each cake, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool.
• Make the lemon curd: While the cake is baking, whisk the sugar, eggs, lemon juice and zest together in a microwave-safe bowl. Add the butter. Microwave for 4 to 6 minutes, stirring every minute until the mixture thickens. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and poke a few holes into the wrap with the tip of a knife to allow steam to escape. Refrigerate until completely cooled.
• Prepare the cakes, fruit and almonds: Slice the rounded tops of the cakes to flatten them. Carefully slice the cakes in half, horizontally, through the middle to create 4 layers. Stir the raspberry jam with 1 tablespoon of water to loosen the texture and toss gently with the raspberries. Whip the cream to medium peaks.
• Assemble the trifle: Place one cake round in the bottom of the trifle bowl, trimming the edges if necessary to fit. Spread about 1/3 of the lemon curd over the cake. Cover with about ½ cup of whipped cream and sprinkle with ¼ cup of the toasted almonds, ¼ of the raspberry mixture and 1 cup of blueberries. Repeat the same process for two more layers. For the last layer, spread the cake with the remaining whipped cream, berries and nuts.

PATRIOTIC BERRY TRIFLE

Steps:

• Heat 1/4 cup sugar, the lemon juice and 1/4 cup water in a saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and stir in the almond extract.
• Brush both sides of each slice of cake with the syrup. Cut the slices into 1-inch cubes.
• Beat the remaining 2/3 cup sugar and the cream cheese with a mixer on medium speed until smooth and light. Add the cream and beat on medium-high speed until smooth and the consistency of whipped cream.
• Arrange half of the cake cubes in the bottom of a 13-cup trifle dish. Sprinkle evenly with a layer of blueberries. Dollop half of the cream mixture over the blueberries and gently spread. Top with a layer of strawberries. Layer the remaining cake cubes on top of the strawberries, then sprinkle with more blueberries and top with the remaining cream mixture. Finish with the remaining strawberries and blueberries, arranging them in a decorative pattern. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.

ALMOND FRESH BERRY TRIFLE

Steps:

• Simmer over medium heat: 1½ cup (375 mL) Almond Fresh, honey, orange peels and salt.
• To remaining Almond Fresh, whisk in cornstarch until dissolved. Stir into heating mixtures.
• Bring mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to low and stir/simmer for 1 minute. Remove from heat and add in orange liqueur.
• Pour into bowl, cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day.
• Just before serving, slice angel food cake into 1" cubes.
• Into parfait or large wine glasses, layer with ½ cup (125 mL) cake, ½ cup (125 mL) berries and ½ c (125 mL) pudding. Repeat.
• Garnish with fresh berries and serve.

ANGEL BERRY TRIFLE

Steps:

• Whisk milk and pudding mix for 2 minutes. Let stand until soft-set, about 2 minutes more. Meanwhile, beat yogurt, cream cheese, sour cream and vanilla until smooth. Fold in pudding mixture and 1 cup whipped topping., Place one-third of cake cubes in a 4-qt. trifle bowl. Top with one-third of pudding mixture, one-third of berries and half of remaining whipped topping. Repeat layers once. Top with remaining cake, pudding and berries. Serve immediately or refrigerate.

BERRY TRIFLE

Steps:

• Place the berries into a large bowl and sprinkle with half of the lemon juice. Lightly toss.
• Combine the berries, sugar, cornstarch and remaining lemon juice in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer and cook just until the berries begin to break down and give up their juices, about 3 minutes. Take the berries off the heat and let cool; the mixture should thicken up as is cools.
• In a clean bowl, whip the cream with the sugar and the vanilla to soft peaks. Put the lemon curd into a second bowl and stir in a little of the whipped cream to loosen it. Then fold in the rest of the cream.
• To assemble the trifle, spoon a layer of the lemon cream into a large glass bowl. Add a layer of pound cake, breaking the slices into pieces that fit. Then soak the cake with a layer of berries and their juices. Keep going to make 3 or 4 more layers, depending on the size of the bowl, finishing with a layer of lemon cream. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

MARY'S ROYAL CHERRY TRIFLE

Steps:

• First, make the custard. Tip the caster sugar, cornflour and vanilla into a mixing bowl and add the eggs and egg yolk. Whisk with a hand whisk until smooth and blended.
• Pour the milk and double cream into a pan and heat gently until hot, but do not boil. Pour this over the egg mixture and immediately whisk until blended. Wash the pan to remove any scum from the milk and pour the custard back into the clean pan. Heat gently, stirring constantly until thickened. Don't panic if the custard starts to look lumpy as it thickens, just continue to heat and whisk until the custard is thick and smooth. Pour into a jug and cover the surface of the custard with cling film to prevent a skin from forming. Set aside to cool.
• Tip the stoned cherries into a pan with half the jam or conserve and cook over a medium heat for 5-10 mins until softened and saucy. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly.
• Spread half the slices of Madeira cake generously with the remaining cherry jam. Sandwich with the remaining cake slices, then cut in half. Pour the kirsch or brandy into a shallow bowl, dip each sponge sandwich into the liqueur, then arrange in the base of the trifle dish (you will need a shallow, straight-sided, 20cm round glass dish about 5cm deep). Line the edges of the dish first to create a stripy effect, then fill in the centre with the remaining sandwiches, pouring over any remaining liquid.
• Spoon over the cherries and any juice from the pan, then scatter over the broken biscuits. Pour over the cooled custard, then spread whipped cream over the top. Decorate with fresh whole cherries and chill for a few hours, or make it a day ahead and chill for up to 24 hours before serving.

ALMOND FRUIT BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking dish. In a bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder.
• In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars on high speed until light and fluffy; beat in egg yolk. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture. Stir in almonds.
• In a small bowl, whisk jam to loosen. (Stirring the jam with a fork or a whisk will enable it to spread smoothly over the dough.) Gently press half of dough into bottom of prepared dish. With the back of a spoon, gently spread jam over dough, leaving a 1/4-inch border so the jam doesn't stick to the sides of the pan. Sprinkle remaining dough over top all the way to the edges; press gently to form top layer.
• Bake until top is golden, 25 to 30 minutes; cool completely in dish. Cut into bars with a serrated knife.

FRESH BERRY & ALMOND TARTS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°. On a lightly floured surface, unroll pastry sheets. Roll dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut each with a floured 3-in. cookie cutter to make eight circles or other shapes. Transfer to ungreased baking sheets; prick holes in pastries with a fork., Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely., Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix cream cheese, confectioners' sugar and almond extract until blended. Spread over cooled pastries. Top with berries, pressing lightly to adhere. Sprinkle with almonds and, if desired, confectioners' sugar. Refrigerate leftovers.

RASPBERRY, WHITE CHOCOLATE, AND ALMOND TRIFLE

Steps:

• Bring 1 cup cream to simmer in medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Add white chocolate; whisk until smooth. Cool to barely lukewarm, about 10 minutes. Beat 2 1/2 cups cream and 1/2 teaspoon extract in large bowl to soft peaks. Fold in white chocolate mixture.
• Stir sugar and 1/2 cup water in small saucepan over medium heat until sugar melts. Mix in 3/4 teaspoon extract; remove syrup from heat. Quickly submerge 1 biscuit in syrup; shake excess back into pan. Place dipped biscuit in bottom of 14-cup trifle dish. Repeat with enough biscuits to cover bottom of dish.
• Spread 1/3 of melted jam over biscuits in dish. Top with 1/3 of partially thawed berries with juices. Spread 1/3 of whipped chocolate cream over. Repeat layering with dipped biscuits, melted jam, partially thawed berries, and whipped chocolate cream 2 more times. Mound fresh berries in center of trifle. Sprinkle almonds around edge. Cover and chill at least 5 hours and up to 24 hours.
• *Available at some supermarkets and at Italian markets.