Greedy Girl : Christmas Trifle

"Christmas is coming"

Recently in Jamaica we had restaurant week November 14th to the 22nd. I made great use of the opportunity to taste as much as I could. I dined at Black orchid, Redbones, A-bar and Regency bar and lounge. This post is inspired by a delicious dessert my mother and I had at Regency bar and lounge at Terra nova hotel; a perfectly chilled sweet trifle.

My mother and I were in Kingston running errands one Thursday and she was starving. She is a vegetarian so we have to select very carefully when choosing dining options. I remembered that Regency offered falafel sliders on their menu and suggested we try there for a late lunch. The sliders were yummy as well as the salt fish croquette we ordered. But the real highlight for us both was the trifle. We got two shooters each. The layer of cake, fruit cocktail, pastry cream and whipped cream were just the finish we needed.

I was so inspired that I decided to make my own version that very same weekend. I decided to have two home-made elements and two store bought elements just to make the process faster. The fruit cocktail and pastry cream were home-made. However the whipped cream and vanilla cake were store bought. I gave my trifle multiple layers instead of just one of each item. So it was filled with cake, fruits and pastry cream. Once all the elements are chilled and layered they are so delicious; a really great Christmas dessert.

Makes 8 desert shooters or 4 glasses

Ingredients:(printable ingredients list)

Pastry cream
2 cups Milk
2 Eggs
2 tablespoon Cornstarch
1 tablespoon Vanilla bean paste/extract
1 teaspoon Almond extract

10 peeled green Grapes (seedless)
10 Maraschino cherries
3 slices Pineapple
1 Pear
2-4 Vanilla cupcakes

Greedy tips:

The best thing to do is make these the night before they are served. Make sure to layer cake -> pastry cream -> fruits and repeat. The layer of pastry cream between the fruits and cake will prevent the fruit juices from making the cake soggy. And the pastry cream is very thick and holds well on its own especially cold.
I prefer these in small single serve shooter glasses rather than a larger vessel.