BERRY TRIFLES IN A JAR
•These were a show stopper! Don’t be embarrassed if you catch yourself trying to lick the bottom of the jar. We made 100 of these for our Women’s Wellness Weekend, and won’t reveal names, but saw a couple ladies using their finger to get the last of the goodies. We used frozen whole mixed berries and fresh raspberries, but imagine how delicious summer strawberries or peaches would be. The lemon curd was made days before and we used a box cake mix for the sponge cake. It’s all in the presentation, not if you bought the cake from the bakery or used frozen berries. There is just something about eating it out of a jar that makes it homey and extra special.
Slowly cook the bag of berries and half of the raspberries over med heat until it comes to a simmer and has broken down a little to make a light sauce. Add 1/4 sugar-stir and taste. Add the other half of the raspberries (reserving 8 raspberries for garnish)-stir lightly and taste again, adding more sugar if you like. There are a lot of other sweet components in the trifle so don’t go overly sweet on the berries.
While the berries are cooking, get the whipped cream going. If you’ve never made whipped cream before the key is to have everything COLD. Put the beaters and bowl in the freezer before you start any of the above steps and let chill for half hour or so. Add the cream to the cold bowl and start whipping on med high speed. Once it starts to double in size add the sugar. Keep whipping until it can hold its shape, add vanilla. Be careful not go too far unless you want butter.
