Berry Trifle

When I was a kid my mom made trifle all the time. It’s a great dessert for parties, because it’s so pretty. And when you dig down and get the layers, that there’s the good stuff. Here’s my version, not your traditional English Trifle, but good flavors, just the same.

ingredients:
3 pkg ladyfingers (1 box at Trader Joes)
16 oz heavy cream
8 oz. cream cheese
3/4 sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 (6oz) box lemon pudding
berries

Wash and dry the berries. I like to use a mixture of raspberries, blueberries and blackberries. But you can use strawberries, bananas, even mandarin oranges if you want.

Whip heavy cream with an electric mixer until it forms a nice thick whipped cream. Set aside. In another bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar, add vanilla. Then slowly mix in the whipped cream.

In another bowl (I know, lots o’ dishes) make the lemon pudding according to package directions.

Now for the assembly. Trifle bowls are obviously the first choice, since they have straight sides, but any nice glass bowl will do. I pour a little bit of the cream cheese mixture on the bottom of the bowl, just so that the lady fingers will stand up nicely. Line the edge of the bowl.

Now layer. Anyway you want, really. For this one I put the cream cheese mixture first, then the pudding, then blueberries.

Then cream cheese again, pudding again, and this time I laid out some of the extra lady fingers that I had. They are porous, so really good for the center of the trifle, they absorb all the goodness. Then a cream cheese layer again, berries, and pudding. I just keep going until everything is gone. I like to finish with the cream cheese mixture on top though, because the white is pretty and it holds the berries nicely.

The best part about trifle is the mixture of flavors. So put it back in to the fridge and chill. Anywhere from 8 hours to overnight.

This is a stunner at parties and looks complicated, but couldn’t be easier.