Mascarpone raspberry trifle
Christmas dessert made easy
Noooo!!! I can hear you exclaim out loud in utter confusion… Did I not say yesterday that I was gonna be good and losing weight and blablabla?? True, so true… but you see.. this was already made when I wrote that. And I am not gonna eat it all myself! What’re you thinking? Ofcourse I will share.. Gizmo a little bit, Tom a little bit and ok, I will bring the rest to my parents… Did I not warn you there would be unhealthy recipes abound here in the coming weeks? I do need to do some sort of Christmas testing so that means actually making it or I will not be able to tell if I’m making something good or not so good.
Creamy goodness
Now this mascarpone raspberry christmassy trifle is definitely good. But it can definitely be better. (which is why the testing is necessary you see..) It was lovely and creamy but I thought the flavors were a little flat. It needs a bit of extra punch and the cranberry sauce that I am pouring over in the first picture is definitely doing the trick (btw, that is THE ultimate cranberry sauce.. Sharing the recipe for that later!) but I think it could do with some extra oomph to make it the dessert I had thought it would be. For starters; I will be adding maybe a bit of lemoncurd in the cream. That will make the taste a bit fresher. Adding some limezest in their too. On top of that I think that soaking the lady fingers in a bit of diluted limoncello sounds like a brilliant plan to me. You have to be careful though since limoncello tends to get too alcoholly when used in desserts so taste carefully before dipping your fingers. (don’t taste too much or you won’t be able to tell the difference!)
with toasted almonds
On the outside; let’s be honest. Those silver pearls look great but are a nightmare for your teeth, so I would advise against using them (we took them of before actually eating it!) although I heard there are softer varieties now. I think adding some meringue crumbles on top would be brilliant or amaretti cookies would be lovely here too. Basically; go wild… I am giving you the base recipe below but please do give it a little more punch. I’ll add the suggestions in the notes!
Mascarpone raspberry trifle
Yield: 8-10
Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 4 hrs
Total Time: 4 hrs and 30 mins
Ingredients:
- 2 sheets gelatine
- 300g raspberries
- 600ml double cream
- 250g mascarpone
- 1 vanilla pod (seeds reserved)
- 75g icing sugar
- 150ml dry sherry
- 12 sponge fingers/lady fingers
- toasted flaked almonds (to decorate)
- edible silver balls (to decorate)
Directions:
| Rinse a loaf tin approx. 21 cm long x 8 cm wide x 7 cm high with cold water and line with baking parchment. Try and not get too many wrinkles in the paper. I cut out the corners so I could smooth it down the sides easier. Leave a little overhang on the sides so you can fold it in later. | |
| Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water for 5 minutes. | |
| Put 125 gr of raspberries in a bowl and mash them with a fork. Put in a sieve and with the back of a spoon push it through, discarding the seeds. | |
| Take 450 ml of the cream and whisk this into almost stiff peaks. Whisk the mascarpone with the vanilla and sugar. Fold the mascarpone into the cream until smooth. Drain the gelatine and dissolve it into 2 tbsp of slightly cooled boiled water. Stir 2 tsp of the gelatine mix into the puree and mix the rest with the cream. Spoon some cream into the tin to make a layer, about 1/2 cm thick. Drizzle with a third of the raspberry puree. Dip 2 sponge fingers in the sherry and put them in the tin against one side, end to end. Repeat with two more fingers on the opposite side of the tin, and finish with 2 more sponge fingers down the centre. Spoon more cream over the fingers and between the gaps. Push half the remaining raspberries into the cream in lines between the fingers. Drizzle with puree and repeat with the remaining fingers, cream, raspberries and puree. Fold over the baking paper and set in the fridge for at least 4 hrs. (I found 4 hrs not enough so best to leave it overnight or use one gelatine leaf extra) To serve, whip the remaining cream to soft peaks. Turn the terrine out upside down onto a platter. Top with cream and scatter with almonds and silver balls |
|
Note
If you find that taking it out of the tin you see the lady fingers, you can put some cream over the outside to smooth it out.
In terms of the cream itself I would suggest adding maybe some spoons of lemon curd in and dipping the lady fingers in a diluted limoncello.
Another great option would be to use amaretti cookies and dipping the fingers in coffee/amaretto mixture; getting a bit of a tiramisu like flavor. Crumbling meringue on top will also look really nice.
Recipe from Olive magazine
gorgeous trifle
Appetizer
Asian
Bread
Breakfast
Desserts & other sweets
Healthy
Ohh! I love this both of us have our Christmas dessert up! Lovely looking dessert Simone. Not sure I can get raspberries right now but maybe I can use cranberries instead!
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Simone (junglefrog) — December 1st, 2011 at 17:50
Thanks meeta! Your dessert looks absolutely brilliant too.. I think we should swap plates now so we can both have a taste. Cranberries would work really well here. In fact that sauce I am pouring on top is cranberry sauce!
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Simone,
This is just beautiful. I think this is going to be my favourite Christmas dessert to ‘look’ at and I am thankful you do not live closer, in this instance, because I would be tempted to pop over for a bite today!
Nice if you to share with everyone. I am sure Gizmo did not have to be asked twice!
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Simone (junglefrog) — December 1st, 2011 at 17:50
Yes Gizmo could hardly be constrained to dive in head first. She has a real sweet tooth and anything creamy she jumps at (she would jump in it, if it were up to her!)
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Astrid — December 7th, 2011 at 18:59
that sounds very much like Othello here. he’d love you for that trifle!
Wow Simone! This is just so beautiful. Love the christmasy set up. I could spend an afternoon sitting with a spoon and digging into this creamy goodness! Just perfect!
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Simone (junglefrog) — December 1st, 2011 at 17:51
Haha… not sure if it would last you the entire afternoon though..
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Gelatinized trifle, looks awesome! And such a festive look…
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Simone (junglefrog) — December 1st, 2011 at 17:56
It is the festive season after all!
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Oh i am in love with this dessert and all the extras you said like adding the lemon cird and dipping with lemoncello sounds good. I am sure bookmarking this one.
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Simone (junglefrog) — December 1st, 2011 at 17:56
Yeah I would definitely recommend adding the extra’s in as that would make it from fairly average to really good!
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I’m sure it tastes as good as it is unhealthy….! haha!
It looks gorgous!
Mandi
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Simone (junglefrog) — December 1st, 2011 at 17:57
It possibly tastes even better then that…
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A beautiful and festive trifle! Really droolworthy…
Funny, tomorrow, I’ll also be posting a trifle recipe. Great minds think alike. ;-P
Those festive shots are fabulous.
Cheers,
Rosa
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Simone (junglefrog) — December 1st, 2011 at 17:57
O that is great Rosa. Can’t wait to see your trifle recipe!
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I did a double-take when you used the term “lady’s fingers”, because that is also used as a nickname for Okra – which you definitely wouldn’t want in your dessert! Sounds like a wickedly indulgent dish for a special meal, and I’m sure it will be even better appreciated when you have added all those refinements you mention, to make a Mark2 version.
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Simone (junglefrog) — December 1st, 2011 at 17:58
O haha… never knew that was a nickname for okra too! I can see how that would sound really eh… disgusting! I love the Mark2 version… Although maybe the Simone2 version would be even better in this case..
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What a truly stunning dessert! It looks so perfect for Christmas, just looking at these photos put me in a holiday spirit.
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Simone (junglefrog) — December 1st, 2011 at 17:59
Would you believe I was humming ‘jingle bell’ all the way through making these photos??
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Almost too beautiful to eat … almost
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Simone (junglefrog) — December 1st, 2011 at 17:59
Yes. Well it would be a shame to let it go to waste now would it not?
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This cake is great for this coming holidays, looks so creamy and delicious.
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Simone (junglefrog) — December 1st, 2011 at 18:00
Yes and the good thing about this dessert too is that it is incredibly easy to make!
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If there’s something I’ve learned in my few years on this earth is that this is the worst time of the year to try to lose weight :-p
When I saw the first picture I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Somebody please pinch me. It looks AMAZING!
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Simone (junglefrog) — December 1st, 2011 at 18:00
O lol… Thanks Ben. Glad you like it..
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Lovely trifle! And so festive.
I would drink that raspberry sauce, it looks so good!
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Simone (junglefrog) — December 1st, 2011 at 18:01
Thanks Laura, although technically it is a cranberry sauce..
Talking of which; that is THE best cranberry sauce ever and I will be sharing the recipe soon!
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Oh, this looks INCREDIBLE! Love it – so pretty and festive.
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Simone (junglefrog) — December 1st, 2011 at 18:02
Thanks so much Sara!
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I’m officially awed by this 5 star trifle. I love free standing trifles, sort of like a slightly tipsy raspberry tiramisu! Raspberry is my favorite fruit, so this is something I would love to present on my holiday table! Absolutely stunning, Simone.
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Simone (junglefrog) — December 1st, 2011 at 23:52
I love raspberries too and what I also love is that I can buy them from the freezer the whole year round.. So I never have to miss having them..
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That is stunningly beautiful and elegant.
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Simone (junglefrog) — December 1st, 2011 at 23:52
Thanks Joan!
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It looks delicious!!!! I want to try it but I am not sure where to buy gelatin sheets, do you think I can use powdered gelatin and if so, how much to you think?
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Simone (junglefrog) — December 2nd, 2011 at 00:15
He Connie, there are many different calculations out there but it seems on average 1 envelop of powdered gelatin equals 3,5 sheets of gelatin. So in this case you are looking at roughly 1/2 an envelop. I do have to say that I thought the gelatin I used could have been a tiny bit more so maybe better to use a bit more.. Good luck!
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I have a soft spot in my heart for trifles, and this one just looks like the one my doctor ordered. I love the idea of
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Simone (junglefrog) — December 14th, 2011 at 11:55
And what I love about this one is that it is so easy too!
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so pretty and looks so fabulously delicious!
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Simone (junglefrog) — December 14th, 2011 at 11:56
Thanks Diane!
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This looks so good. Worth buying a bigger pants for, kidding…sort of;)
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Simone (junglefrog) — December 14th, 2011 at 11:56
I was planning on smaller pant size not bigger Denise..lol.. Not that that is gonna happen before christmas ofcourse..
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It’s so pretty, and that sauce is stunning! I love the idea of soaking the ladyfingers in limoncello. What a great holiday dessert.
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Simone (junglefrog) — December 14th, 2011 at 11:57
Yes me too actually and I’m sort of sorry that I didn’t do that straight away but I always like to taste the basic version first before making adjustments to a recipe.
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Well, Simone, if you say that cake could be made better tastewise, I don’t think that the same could be said for its looks! Wow does it look good! Decadent AND elegant!
I totally agree with you though re: the little silver pearls. They do look pretty, but you DO NOT want to bite into one. They are a hazard for your teeth!
I look forward to the cranberry sauce recipe. It does look super yummy!
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Simone (junglefrog) — December 14th, 2011 at 11:58
I don’t know who ever invented those silver pearls… They must have realized that it is really not the best thing to eat, unless you are trying to break your teeth!
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Oh my what a gorgeous cake! I would just love a slice right now!!
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Oh, Simone, this is beautiful and sounds delicious. My sister and I were just talking about those silver decorating balls and remembering how tooth-cracking hard they are. We were debating whether they were really edible or not…. thanks for clearing that up.
(The Christmas header is adorable!)
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Simone (junglefrog) — December 4th, 2011 at 16:36
O you noticed the Christmas header! I think you’re the first…
And yes, they are edible but well, I don’t recommend actually trying that..
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This looks so totally delicious!
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Simone (junglefrog) — December 14th, 2011 at 11:58
Thanks Jenn!
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Oh Simone! You’ve really outdone yourself here! This looks so elegant and pretty…perfect for Xmas!
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Simone (junglefrog) — December 14th, 2011 at 11:59
I guess it’s sort of a shame that our christmas dinner does not exist of desserts alonge. I actually think that would make it so much easier..
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This looks absolutely sensational. I love all your suggesting too, such as adding lemon curd and lemoncello…mmn, definitely on my ‘to make’ list for Christmas!
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Simone (junglefrog) — December 14th, 2011 at 12:00
Thanks Ren! I’m convinced my second version will be so much better!
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boy it’s tough looking at your page, when I haven’t had dinner yet. I found your page from a friend. I would love a follow back. http://foreverateenonline.blogspot.com/ Looking forward to your newest posts. ~Holly (Happy Holidays!)
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Do you have the recipe for the cranberry sauce for this cake available?
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Simone (junglefrog) — June 25th, 2012 at 18:05
Yes, it is in a post of a few days later but here is the link http://junglefrog-cooking.com/cranberry-sauce/
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Simone – you should have made your own Mascarpone. Talk about easy! This is an absolutely gorgeous dessert and the kind my husband loves – creamy and dreamy. I love raspberries, so this is tailor made for us!:)
V
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