I’m not much of a cookie baker, candy maker, or gingerbread house builder, but I sure do like to eat all of those things! My holiday treats are usually limited to something for Christmas Eve dessert, usually a berry trifle, or pumpkin steamed pudding with warm maple custard topping.
I know we have some real pros here when it comes to sweet treats (or salty), so share your favorites!
To start, this is how I make my berry trifle. I often make this because it is 1) delicious, 2) quick and easy to make, and 3) attractive on the table:
Not mine, but very similar, including the bowl.
Ingredients
- 2 packages Sara Lee Frozen Pound Cake (2 Loaves)
- 1 large jar seedless raspberry jam
- 1 package Vanilla Jello Cook And Serve Pudding (3 Ounce Box)
- 8 ounces, weight Mascarpone Cheese
- 2 packages Unsweetened Frozen Raspberries (12-16 Ounce Bag)
- ⅓ cups Sugar
- 1 pint Fresh Raspberries
- 1 quart Fresh Strawberries
- 1 can Reddi-Whip Whipped Cream, For Topping
Preparation
Thaw pound cakes. Slice pound cake. NOTE: One time when I made this I used one plain pound cake and one lemon poppy seed cake, because that was what was available. It was a really good substitute – a happy accident!
Prepare and cool pudding. When cool, combine with the marcarpone cheese. You could use the instant pudding instead (the kind you don’t cook). You can also leave out the cheese, and double the amount of pudding
Thaw frozen raspberries, and sweeten with 1/3 Cup sugar, or more or less to taste. NOTE: You could substitute other berries here for all or part. Frozen wild blueberries (the little ones) are a good addition.
Rinse and drain the fresh raspberries. Wash, remove caps, and slice fresh strawberries. Reserve some to decorate the top.
In a large (4-quart) glass bowl, layer ingredients:
pound cake slices, spread on one side with raspberry jam.
pudding mixture
frozen berries
fresh berries
Make three or four layers, dependent on your ingredients and size of the bowl.
Top with Reddi-Whip (or freshly whipped cream) and fresh raspberries and strawberries just before serving, as the cream tends to break down pretty quickly; home whipped cream holds up better.
Your turn!
Stella's Place 
This one looks strange, but it is really good, and really easy to make.
http://www.mamasaywhat.com/salted-caramel-pretzel-bark/
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Stella, if I remember correctly, you and I share a love of lemon curd. This one looks very good.
https://madaboutkitchen.wordpress.com/2015/07/06/lemon-curd-cookies/amp/
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Absolutely I do!
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Coincidence! I’m making lemon curd this evening from my UK friend’s simple recipe:
For each lemon
1 egg
1 oz butter
3 oz sugar
Zest and squeeze lemon
In a Bain Marie melt sugar and butter
Add in lemon juice and zest
Add beaten egg
Stir until it coats back of spoon
Pour into sterile pot
Keep in fridge and use within month
I usually use 4 or 6 lemons
Rush it and the egg white will solidify out giving white streaks
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Notes from last night’s efforts making a double batch:
It made about 11 ounces, so one lemon’s worth of this recipe makes about 5 1/2 ounces of lemon curd.
I was unsure if 3 oz of sugar meant by weight or volume. I went with 6 Tablespoons, which is less than 3 oz by weight. A tablespoon of sugar weighs about 0.8 ounces.
I used a candy thermometer and stopped heating when the mixture hit 150 degrees.
I still got a couple of white streaks, because I noticed as I was stirring that I hadn’t beaten the eggs quite enough, because there were still a few globs of thick egg white. I think next time I’ll whisk the juice and eggs together vigorously before adding to the cooking pot.
I strained it through a strainer so the final product would not contain chunks of zest.
After overnight refrigeration, it still hadn’t thickened enough. Rather than being like pudding, it was like gravy. Maybe 150 degrees wasn’t hot enough? But the egg white globs turned white and strained out, so you’d think it was hot enough. Duh; the strained out white would be that much less thickening agent. %-/
Tastes great. 🙂
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Bonehead math error: TWO tablespoons of sugar (1 ounce by volume) weigh about 0.8 ounces.
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I got a good scale when I started baking bread regularly. Weight is more accurate, especially for flour, and I recommend it highly.
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Barefoot Contessa says it thickens at 170 degrees. She uses more specific measures for lemon juice, too. I used Meyer lemons, which may have more juice than regular lemons.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/lemon-curd-recipe-1941910
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Made another batch this evening. Three lemons, 4 medium eggs. Looks like the volume of eggs and lemon juice should be about equal. I had 5 ounces of juice and about 5 1/2 of eggs.
Heating to 170 was the trick. Came out beautifully.
Dumped the other night’s too thin result back into the saucepan and heated it to 170 and it turned out beautifully, too. 🙂
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Cupcake recipe!
https://www.irishcentral.com/opinion/guinness-baileys-and-jamesons-whiskey-chocolate-cupcakes-79124957-237792421
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I’m going to make those one of these days!
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OOooo… Guinness, Baileys, Jameson, chocolate, cupcakes, . . .
What’s not to like?
Ok, maybe sprinkle bacon crumbles on top. 🙂
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Best looking cheese “ball” ever! I want to make this just because it’s pretty. And I hate olives! I have a husband who will eat them though.
https://cafedelites.com/antipasto-cheese-ball-christmas-tree/
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