Three day weekends around the casa are never really very relaxing. There’s always a project to be done, another item on a to-do list, or a box to check: whether it’s remodeling a bathroom, repainting a room, installing hardwoods or replacing baseboards and crown molding. We live in a perpetual construction zone. I don’t know why we don’t have our own DIY show…
Okay, so I do know why we aren’t on TV. I’m lazy. I’ll look for any excuse not to work. Post-project clean up? I’d rather do laundry. And that’s really saying something. But a family barbecue takes precedent over most DIY projects… depending on who is there 🙂
A typical family barbecue, the dinner buffet features 5 different cuts of meat – 14 if you count the hot dogs – potato salad and baked beans among other things. It’s like Thanksgiving, only everything is either hickory or mesquite smoked. And it’s July. And there’s no football to root for whoever is playing the Cowboys after dinner.
We could have stayed with the theme and sprinkled sugar on an Acme brick. Instead, we went bright & light with a cool and refreshing berry trifle.
A quick trip to the store for on-sale berries and an angel food cake makes this dessert come together in no time. A dessert that tastes a lot of work but isn’t is my kind of dessert!
Mixed Berry Trifle
Fresh angel food cake is layered with whipped cream and fresh mixed berries for an easy-to-serve dessert.
Ingredients
- For the whipped cream
- 16 oz heavy whipping cream
- 2 Tbsp orange liqueur
- Pinch of cinnamon
- Sugar, to taste
- For assembly and garnish
- 1 angel food cake (purchased or homemade)
- 1 pint blueberries
- 1 pint raspberries
- 2 pints strawberries (alternately, 1 recipe of Scotts Strawberry Sauce)
- 1 Tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp orange liqueur
Instructions
- Rinse fruit well and pat dry.
- Hull strawberries and slice. Place in a bowl with sugar and orange liqueur.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature while prepping the dessert. Stir occasionally.
- To prepare the whipped cream: Whisk cream on high until thickened.
- Add orange liqueur and a pinch of cinnamon, whisk until combined. Sweeten to taste.
- To assemble the trifle: Use a serrated knife to cut the cake into 1-inch slices.
- Layer the cake onto the bottom of a trifle bowl. Cover with 1/3 of the whipped cream mixture (about 1 cup), spreading evenly. Top with 1/2 of the strawberry mixture.
- Top with second layer of cake slices. Cover with 1/3 of the whipped cream mixture (about 1 cup), spreading evenly. Top with remaining strawberries and 1/3 of the blueberries.
- Top with remaining cake slices.
- Cover with the last of the whipped cream mixture and spread evenly. Arrange raspberries around the edge of the trifle bowl and add the rest of the blueberries.
- Chill until you're ready for dessert. Use a large spoon to scoop out servings.
Notes
Yields: ~12-16 servings
Estimated time: 30 minutes