Trifle

I had some loaves left over after an event a few months ago, so I froze them for later. With another event looming at the beginning of next week, "Trifles" came up, and so I'm going to convert the leftover loaves into a couple of trifles.  I think the beauty of "trifle" is that, with a little imagination, you have limitless possibilities.  Kraft Canada has a great Trifle "formula" style recipe; they've made a chart and the 3 main components have been broken down, giving you ideas for mixing and matching what you have on hand. It's a good place to start if you're a first time Trifle maker.

To make a Basic Trifle, you need:
A clear/glass bowl
A cake/cookie layer
A fruit/jam layer
A pudding/custard layer
Whipped topping
A garnish

Start with a layer of cake on the bottom of the bowl.Traditional English Trifles have liqueur or sherry sprinkled over the cake. The older and drier the cake, the more liquid (whether alcohol or fruit juice) it will soak up. If you are using frozen or tinned fruit, you could drain the juice and sprinkle it over the cake. If you're using fresh fruit, you might spread the cake with a complimentary jam. Layer the fruit over the cake, followed by a layer of pudding or custard. A few inches of whipped cream is next.

I like at least 2 layers of everything, so I would try to use half of each item, and then layer it all again. If you have a tall trifle bowl, you might like to do 3 or 4 layers of everything. Top off the last layer of whipped cream with your garnish.

Trifle Ideas:

Tropical Trifle- banana bread/cake with crushed pineapple and coconut custard (Bird's Custard made with coconut milk), whipped cream with a toasted coconut garnish.

Banana Split Trifle- banana bread/cake with strawberries on one layer and crushed pineapple on another, chocolate pudding and whipped cream, garnished with fresh sliced strawberries & shaved chocolate, or chocolate sundae sauce drizzled over the whipped cream.

Leftover Waffle Trifle- Breakfast waffles, any kind of frozen fruit or jam, vanilla custard or pudding, and whipped cream with coloured candy sprinkles on top.

Leftover Loaf Trifle- how about Orange-Cranberry loaf with tinned mandarin orange segments, vanilla custard or pudding, whipped cream and orange sugar sprinkles, grated orange rind or maraschino cherries on top? 
Lemon-Poppyseed loaf or muffins with peaches or mandarin orange segments, lemon pudding, whipped cream and grated lemon peel on top.

Chocolate Trifle- chocolate cake, cherry pie filling, raspberries or strawberries, chocolate pudding, whipped cream with crushed Oreo cookies for a garnish.

Vanilla Trifle- white cake, strawberries or raspberries, vanilla pudding or custard, whipped cream with fruit to garnish.

*Use your imagination and share your trifle ideas in the comments.

Nutty Fruit Crisp Topping

Crisps are crisps- rhubarb, apple, peach, plum... basically whatever fruit you have on hand or in the freezer makes a nice crisp. (1/3-1/2 cup sugar or sweetener and 1/8 cup of flour or cornstarch per 2 cups of fruit) When I make fruit crisp I rarely look it up; I usually just "wing it". Tonight I made a rhubarb/apple crisp, and I caught myself remembering the ingredients that I used for the topping. Good thing, as I did something a little different and it was really good. I give you "Nutty Fruit Crisp Topping"


1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
1/4 cashews, fairly finely chopped
1/4 cup hard margarine

Mix flour, oatmeal, salt, brown sugar and cashews together in a medium bowl. Using a pastry blender, two knives or your fingers, cut/blend the margarine into the dry ingredients until mixture is crumbled together. Spoon/spread over fruit in greased casserole dish and bake at 350*F for 45-60 minutes, until fruit is bubbly and topping is crisp and toasted golden brown.

This made a substantial topping for a rhubarb-apple crisp in an 8 inch, round casserole pot. The chopped nuts added a nice texture and flavour.

Two Egg Custard

This is a take on the 3 egg "basic cream pie recipe" found in Better Homes & Gardens Pies and Cakes cookbook. It's a nice custard pudding, that can be used to make a low fat cream pie or trifle. For a pie or trifle dessert, I've found that 1 1/2 or 2 times the amount of custard is needed.

1/2 cup Splenda, artificial sweetener
3 Tablespoons corn starch
2 cups skim milk
2 egg yolks in a bowl, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla

In medium sized saucepan, combine Splenda and cornstarch. Gradually add milk, whisking to blend.

Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture thickens and boils. Cook 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat.

Whisk small amount of hot mixture into egg yolks. (use a small measuring cup or a soup ladle to transfer the hot milk) Immediately pour heated egg yolks back into the pot with the hot milk mixture. Whisk egg yolks in, until well blended.

Return pot to heat, cook 2 minutes more, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add vanilla.

Stir occasionally while pudding cools to prevent skin from forming on top; or cover with plastic wrap. Serve warm or cool.

For cream pies:
-Coconut Cream Pie; add 1 cup of coconut to custard and fill cooked pie shell.
-Banana Cream Pie; spread custard into cooked pie shell lined with sliced bananas.

Serve with low fat whipped topping, or meringue made with Splenda and the whites of the eggs used in the custard.

Sauced Butterscotch (Pudding-Cake and Sauce)

A favourite Birthday Breakfast at our house... but it really is a nice, filling, hot dessert on cold winter evenings. Serve with thick cream or ice cream. This is half the recipe, so it will make enough for 2 or 3... or 1 for breakfast and then lunch dessert!

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 cup milk
1 Tbsp butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp. butter or margarine
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup hot water

Measure first 5 ingredients into bowl. Mix together with spoon. Turn into greased 8" casserole dish or baking pan.

In same bowl, stir brown sugar, butter, vanilla and hot water until sugar dissolves and butter is melted. Pour over batter in pan. Do not stir. Bake at 350*F for 20 - 30 minutes until sauce is on the bottom and the top crust is firm to the touch.

Grandma Morrison's Rice Pudding

The best. This even got a thumbs up from the guys that don't usually like rice pudding!



1/4 cup pearl (very short grain) rice- I used "Compliments Calrose Rice" when they didn't have Pearl Rice
1 cup homogenized milk
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup 18% table cream*
Put rice and milk in the top of a double boiler (or in a thick bottomed pot). Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, then cover and simmer slowly for about 2 hours, stirring once in a while, til rice is cooked and milk is almost completely absorbed.
Add sugar, vanilla and cream. Cook for 1 hour more, or til rice pudding is thick, before milk/cream is cooked away. Serve warm or cold.
makes 2 servings:
Per serving:
374 calories, 53 g carbohydrate, 35 g sugars, 14 g fat, 55 mg cholesterol, 7.1 g protein.
*If you used 10% fat cream, you will lower the calories, fat and cholesterol without loosing too much creaminess.

Brown Rice Pudding

This is a lower everything (carbs, fat, cholesterol, sugars) plus a bit- of- fibre- and- a- bit- more- protein recipe. If you're not used to the brown rice texture and nuttiness, you might not like it, but if you've been eating brown rice for awhile, as a higher fibre alternative to white rice, give it a try.

1/4 cup short grain brown rice (I used "Lundberg Short Grain Brown Rice"- it was also gluten free)
2 Tbsp raisins**
1 cup skim milk
2 Tbsp Splenda artificial sweetener
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup homogenized milk*

Put rice, raisins and skim milk in the top of a double boiler (or in a thick bottomed pot). Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, then cover and simmer slowly for about 2 hours, stirring once in a while, til rice is cooked and milk is almost completely absorbed.

Add Splenda, vanilla and homogenized milk. Cook for 1 hour more, or til rice pudding is thick, before milk is cooked away.

makes 2 servings:

Per serving:

200 calories, 2.75 g fat, 15 mg cholesterol, 38.5 g carbohydrate, 16 g sugars, 1.75 g fibre, 8.25 g protein.

*If you use 2 % milk instead of Homogenized, it won't be quite as creamy, but you'll lower the fat content considerably. **If you don't like raisins and leave them out, the sugars and carb numbers will be reduced as well.