February 14, 2012

Lemon-Berry Mini Trifles

I’ve made it a tradition around Valentine’s Day to make a treat with my girls. This year they didn’t pick trifles.

Those little trifles were a happy little accident that started out as cupcakes…

These cupcakes, to be exact – Raspberry Lemon Cupcakes from My Baking Addiction. I was perusing Pinterest with my 4-year-old, searching for the cupcakes to make for Valentine’s Day. She went nuts when she saw these. (Obviously. The photos in the post are gorgeous.)

Decision made. Cupcakes baked & frosted. Lots of fingers licked. Memories made.

But. They didn’t knock my socks off. Don’t get me wrong, as far as cupcakes go, these were pretty good. The lemon cake had a really light, moist texture and the raspberry buttercream frosting was nice, but neither had the strong fruity flavor I was hoping for.

I also made a big mistake. I had intended to half the recipe, but after I blended the dry ingredients together I realized I was on the road to 24 cupcakes instead of 12. So, I made 12 and baked the rest of the cake batter in a round pan to do something else with.

Freeze, maybe? It never made it to the freezer. Nor did the leftover frozen raspberries.

I’ve got a pretty fantastic Strawberry Trifle recipe (that placed 2nd in a dessert contest once upon a time). In fact, my husband and I both agreed we’d much rather have trifle than cupcakes. (Dare I say that cupcakes are kind of overrated? Unless they knock my socks off. Like these suckers.) So I decided to make my leftovers into some mini trifles.

I made the custard from my trifle recipe, using buttermilk and lemon juice instead of regular milk. (Hello, tang.) Then I combined the rest of the frozen raspberries with some frozen blueberries and layered it with the custard and the leftover cake… with a dollop of freshly whipped cream on top. The cake recipe I used for the cupcakes was more time consuming and dirtied more dishes than the sponge cake from my trifle recipe, so I made a few tweaks to the sponge cake and added it to the recipe below.

After trying my new creation I believe I said audibly, “Whoa. Screw the cupcakes.” Then I refilled my little trifle dish and ate another one.

The sweet, gooey berries were a perfect pairing with the tangy custard and the fluffy, slightly-lemony cake. I could dive into a big bowl of this and never come out.

I found these cute little trifle dishes at Walmart. They were only $3-4 a piece (I think). You can also use 8-ounce ramekins or small bowls. Clear bowls make for a prettier presentation when it comes to trifles, but honestly… you kind of forget how pretty it is once you take a few bites.

Lemon-Berry Mini Trifles

Yield: Makes 6 mini trifles (8-ounces each)

Ingredients:

Lemon Custard:
2/3 c. sugar
2 T. cornstarch
¼ t. salt
1 1/2 c. buttermilk
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 2 or 3 large lemons)
4 egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 T. butter
1 tsp. vanilla

Sponge Cake:
1 egg
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1/4 cup milk
1 T butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla
zest from two large lemons

For the trifles:
2 cups frozen raspberries, thawed
2 cups frozen blueberries, thawed
2 T. sugar
1 1/4 cup heavy cream, whipped and sweetened to taste (or 2-2 1/2 cups of whipped cream)

Directions:

For the custard:
Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, salt, buttermilk, and lemon juice in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and bubbly. Stir about ¼ of mixture into egg yolks; add egg yolk mixture back into saucepan, stirring constantly. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, 2 min. Remove from heat; add butter and vanilla, stirring until butter melts. Cover with plastic wrap, gently pressing it onto surface; chill at least 2 hours.

For the sponge cake:
Beat egg at high speed with electric mixer 3 min or until thick and pale. Gradually add sugar and lemon zest; beat 4 min. Combine flour, baking powder and salt; gradually fold into batter. Combine milk and butter in saucepan; cook over low heat until butter melts (or zap in the microwave). Gradually stir milk mixture and vanilla into batter. Pour into a greased and floured 8” round cake pan. Bake at 350 for 16 min or until toothpick comes clean. Cool on wire rack for 10 min. Remove from pan; cool completely on rack. Cut into 1 in. cubes.

When you're ready to assemble the trifles, mix the thawed berries and sugar in a bowl. Set aside.

Whip the cream with an electric mixer, adding your preferred sweetener, to taste, during the whipping. (I added about 1 T of sugar.) Fold a couple of heaping spoonfuls of the cream into the custard. Set aside the rest for the topping.

In trifle cups or a small serving bowl, layer custard, cake cubes, and berry mixture. Repeat layers until you run out of ingredients. If you're using small cups, you may only be able to layer once. Top with remaining custard. Cover and chill. Top with whipped cream when you're ready to serve.

Nat's Notes:
1. The custard and cake can be prepared 2-3 days in advance. Just cover and chill until you're ready to assemble the trifles.

2. You may end up with some extra custard at the end. I like my trifles really custard-y so I used the full recipe. You could half the recipe if you don't want extra.

from Perry's Plate

Desserts - Pies and Trifles, Perry's Plate Originals

29 comments »

29 Responses to “Lemon-Berry Mini Trifles”

1

Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar — February 14, 2012 @ 4:07 am

These are too pretty!!

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2

Blog is the New Black — February 14, 2012 @ 4:32 am

Gorgeous! ;)

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3

Laurie {Simply Scratch} — February 14, 2012 @ 5:23 am

Ohhh how I love these!

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4

Jen at The Three Little Piglets — February 14, 2012 @ 5:38 am

I have pretty insanely high expectations for a cupcake as well. What a great way to take them over the top! And gorgeous too!

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5

Kelley {mountain mama cooks} — February 14, 2012 @ 5:47 am

Agreed, I’d take a bowl of trifle over a cupcake any day! Lemon and berries are always a winning combo. And the whipped cream is the icing on the (cup)cake………er trifle. :)

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6

Julie @ Table for Two — February 14, 2012 @ 5:50 am

The trifles look and sound so lovely! I’ve been meaning to get some trifle bowls but haven’t yet :( I must soon so I can make these! I love the lemon-berry combination!

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7

Rachel @ Not Rachael Ray (soon to be Rachel Cooks) — February 14, 2012 @ 6:39 am

These look so delicious! Yum!

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8

Krista — February 14, 2012 @ 8:05 am

I completely agree about the cupcakes. They are way overrated. This trifle looks amazing!

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9

natalie (the sweets life) — February 14, 2012 @ 8:15 am
yum! these are so cute–i recently broke my large trifle bowl and haven’t replaced yet…maybe i should get the minis instead! :)

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- Natalie replied: — February 15th, 2012 @ 4:25 pm
  
  Oh no! I hope it didn’t have a trifle in it when it broke. That happened to my mom’s once…. and we hadn’t eaten any of it yet. TRAGIC. (I blame my dad.)
10

Heidi @ Food Doodles — February 14, 2012 @ 8:36 am

These look beautiful! Trifles will always remind me of my gramma and that is a very good thing :) I love the lemon and berry combo – you can’t go wrong with that!

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11

Cara — February 14, 2012 @ 9:44 am
Happy Valentines Day, Natalie! Chocoholic that I am, even I couldn’t resist the invitation to “be mine” with one of these trifles :)

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- Natalie replied: — February 15th, 2012 @ 4:23 pm
  
  Thanks Cara, I hope yours was good, too! Usually I steer toward chocolate on Valentine’s Day. Maybe I’m still recovering from fondue-overdose at our housewarming a few weeks ago!
12

Andrea @ The Skinny Chronicles — February 14, 2012 @ 10:40 am
This looks absolutely divine! All of my favorite flavors! I die.

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- Natalie replied: — February 15th, 2012 @ 4:26 pm
  
  I did. Several times. :)
13

brandi — February 15, 2012 @ 5:50 am
lemon + berries really is the perfect combination. saving this for when i can get some berries here!

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- Natalie replied: — February 15th, 2012 @ 4:26 pm
  
  Oh for sure… fresh berries would be even better! I just used frozen, though, and they were still pretty sweet!
14

Joanne — February 15, 2012 @ 8:07 am
When I’m craving a lemony baked good, I want something SERIOUSLY lemony. So yeah…I’m seeing how that lemon custard would be necessary. What a delicious metamorphosis!

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- Natalie replied: — February 15th, 2012 @ 4:23 pm
  
  I love that you GET me. You would love that custard :)
15

Lauren — February 15, 2012 @ 11:00 am

I’ve seen those little trifle dishes at Walmart…will have to get them! They are too cute!

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16

Matt @ RecipeLion — February 15, 2012 @ 2:59 pm

This dessert looks great! I would love it if you linked up this recipe to my blog hop for a chance to win a cookbook prize package.

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17

Julia {The Roasted Root} — February 16, 2012 @ 8:01 pm

Your girlfriends are lucky to have a friend who shares such a wonderful dessert! Your recipe looks like it hits the spot – creamy, sweet, tart and satisfying. Nice!

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18

cassie — February 17, 2012 @ 7:40 am

These are awesome, that lemon custard sounds out of this WORLD!

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19

Sally @ Spontaneous Hausfrau — February 17, 2012 @ 8:48 am

Beautiful and perfect. Is there any better combination than lemon and berries and cream?

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20

Krislea — February 17, 2012 @ 11:29 am
These look wonderful and I would love to try them! When do you add the lemon juice to the custard? While cooking, or with the butter and vanilla?

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- Natalie replied: — February 17th, 2012 @ 11:56 am
  
  Hi Krislea, Sorry about that! The lemon juice is added when you add the buttermilk at the very beginning. I made the changes in the recipe. Thanks for catching that!
21

Lisa Clawson — February 19, 2012 @ 2:02 pm

I love trifle!!! I’m going to try this lemon baby. I will be the first to admit that many a trifle has been made at my house that was supposed to be something different. When the cookie (or the cake) crumbles, a trifle is just the answer. Plus who doesn’t love pudding-y things! Way to go! Can’t wait to try it:)

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22

Christina — July 19, 2012 @ 11:18 am
I just stumbled upon your recipe. It looks fantastic! Just to clarify: Does the sponge cake require 1 egg or more than 1? The ingredient list says 1 but in the direction section of the recipe it says beat egg(S) plural? Thanks

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- Natalie replied: — July 19th, 2012 @ 12:19 pm
  
  Thanks for catching that! I adapted it from the Strawberry Trifle recipe, cutting the sponge cake in half. It’s only one egg. :)