A trifling matter
At this weekend's Scout training course (WRFA), a teenage boy asked for my recipe for Trifle. That requires a story or two.
Years ago, my Venturing Crew was on a shakedown weekend, preparing for our summer trek. We were passing through Yorkville, IN, a wide spot in the road in Dearborn County. We were low on water and looking for somewhere to top off our bottles. We stopped at a place that used to be a gas station and had just re-opened as a bar. We asked if they had an outdoor tap we could get water from.
Well, no, they didn't. But they'd just finished their Grand Re-Opening Party and we were welcome to come in and get water inside. For that matter, we could help ourselves to anything out of the pop machine. A table of leftover goodies were there for us to enjoy, as well: fresh strawberries and a white, luscious dip to drag them through. So there we were, a bunch of Venturers sitting in a [closed] bar, enjoying the owners' hospitality. You can't make this up. The fruit dip was so amazing, I asked for the recipe. Here it is:
Fruit Dip
2 bricks of cream cheese
8 oz. marshmallow fluff
a splash of orange juice (about a quarter cup)
Soften cream cheese ahead of time. Whip by hand using a wooden spoon until smooth.
I made this fruit dip many times for parties. I usually offered both strawberries and apple slices to dip in it. It's a showstopper. And then, I began to wonder about using it to make an easy trifle.
Trifle is a British dessert. It uses angel food cake or pound cake, cut in little cubes. These are layered in with berries of all sorts, frozen or fresh, and some sort of pastry cream or cooked custard. It's sort of a dense parfait. It gets its name from the booze that goes in the cream/custard. A really stiff dose will render the eater a "trifle" tipsy, hence the name.
Anyway, I figured I could base my pastry cream off the fruit dip recipe, but I thought the orange juice would make it too sugary "bright." I finally decided to try using Galliano liqueur instead of OJ in the fruit dip. Galliano is an herbal liqueur, and it picked up all the floral notes of the berries and made a very nice trifle. And for years, I made trifle this way: angel food cake cubes, berries, pastry cream made of cream cheese, marshmallow fluff, and Galliano.
The obvious problem is when I decided I wanted to make trifle at Scouting events. Not just bring it -- I could get away with that -- but make it on the spot. Even if you're only cooking with it, I figured I'd get in trouble if I brought a bottle of Galliano and had it sitting out on the counter in the camp kitchen. Rather a big No-No. But what could substitute for it?
Well, I was in a gourmet foods market looking at their coffee aisle with all the fancy barista supplies. Among the various syrups for pouring in coffee on offer was Elderflower Syrup (with lemon). I remembered back to another high adventure trip where I was visiting a museum in Kilmartin Glen, Scotland. I ate lunch there and had a refreshing elderflower cordial to drink. I thought the delicate elderflower taste might play well with the berries in the trifle, so I bought a bottle of Elderflower Syrup and tried it. The results were magic. So that's my go-to recipe now when cooking in Scout camp.
Scout Trifle
1 angel food cake (about 14 oz), cut in small cubes
2-3 pints or so of strawberries (cut), blueberries, raspberries (frozen or fresh)
1 batch Art's pastry cream
Serves about ten; multiply ingredients to match any size group you're cooking for.
And there you have it. It's a real show-stopper and it requires no actual cooking. It can therefore be made anywhere.
Years ago, my Venturing Crew was on a shakedown weekend, preparing for our summer trek. We were passing through Yorkville, IN, a wide spot in the road in Dearborn County. We were low on water and looking for somewhere to top off our bottles. We stopped at a place that used to be a gas station and had just re-opened as a bar. We asked if they had an outdoor tap we could get water from.
Well, no, they didn't. But they'd just finished their Grand Re-Opening Party and we were welcome to come in and get water inside. For that matter, we could help ourselves to anything out of the pop machine. A table of leftover goodies were there for us to enjoy, as well: fresh strawberries and a white, luscious dip to drag them through. So there we were, a bunch of Venturers sitting in a [closed] bar, enjoying the owners' hospitality. You can't make this up. The fruit dip was so amazing, I asked for the recipe. Here it is:
Fruit Dip
2 bricks of cream cheese
8 oz. marshmallow fluff
a splash of orange juice (about a quarter cup)
Soften cream cheese ahead of time. Whip by hand using a wooden spoon until smooth.
I made this fruit dip many times for parties. I usually offered both strawberries and apple slices to dip in it. It's a showstopper. And then, I began to wonder about using it to make an easy trifle.
Trifle is a British dessert. It uses angel food cake or pound cake, cut in little cubes. These are layered in with berries of all sorts, frozen or fresh, and some sort of pastry cream or cooked custard. It's sort of a dense parfait. It gets its name from the booze that goes in the cream/custard. A really stiff dose will render the eater a "trifle" tipsy, hence the name.
Anyway, I figured I could base my pastry cream off the fruit dip recipe, but I thought the orange juice would make it too sugary "bright." I finally decided to try using Galliano liqueur instead of OJ in the fruit dip. Galliano is an herbal liqueur, and it picked up all the floral notes of the berries and made a very nice trifle. And for years, I made trifle this way: angel food cake cubes, berries, pastry cream made of cream cheese, marshmallow fluff, and Galliano.
The obvious problem is when I decided I wanted to make trifle at Scouting events. Not just bring it -- I could get away with that -- but make it on the spot. Even if you're only cooking with it, I figured I'd get in trouble if I brought a bottle of Galliano and had it sitting out on the counter in the camp kitchen. Rather a big No-No. But what could substitute for it?
Well, I was in a gourmet foods market looking at their coffee aisle with all the fancy barista supplies. Among the various syrups for pouring in coffee on offer was Elderflower Syrup (with lemon). I remembered back to another high adventure trip where I was visiting a museum in Kilmartin Glen, Scotland. I ate lunch there and had a refreshing elderflower cordial to drink. I thought the delicate elderflower taste might play well with the berries in the trifle, so I bought a bottle of Elderflower Syrup and tried it. The results were magic. So that's my go-to recipe now when cooking in Scout camp.
Scout Trifle
1 angel food cake (about 14 oz), cut in small cubes
2-3 pints or so of strawberries (cut), blueberries, raspberries (frozen or fresh)
1 batch Art's pastry cream
2 bricks cream cheeseSoften cream cheese ahead of time. Whip pastry cream ingredients by hand until smooth. Layer bottom of bowl or pan with half the cake, half the berries, and half the cream; repeat.
8 oz marshmallow fluff
1/4 cup or so elderflower syrup
Serves about ten; multiply ingredients to match any size group you're cooking for.
And there you have it. It's a real show-stopper and it requires no actual cooking. It can therefore be made anywhere.