I did finish the turning of the parking strip and cover it with the newspaper/cardboard and wood chip combo that will hopefully result in luscious composed soil by spring. I got a large dumping of free chips from the city's proxy tree service, which is now nearly occluding the fire hydrant. Lucky we live in the middle of the block, I am hoping to avoid any citations (ahem).
But things are looking up folks! The next beef has arrived, and the freezer is bulging. This beef tastes, if this is possible, beefier than the last one, and I rather like that. The winter and holiday season is upon us, and for anyone who knows me, that would mean that the pinnacle of the social season: the Davis/Utterback Night of Beef! We were over there last night. Once again, everyone outdid themselves. I seriously think that we should be sharing our recipes this year: the savory bread pudding that the Matthews brought, the Brussels sprouts that Kit brought! Amazing! I loved Laura's salad, and the stuffed mushrooms that came from Elyce yum! We haven't even gotten to the piece de la resistance: the grilled/smoked prime rib of Darren's. Truly, all of the food was delicious.
I was put on dessert. In truth, there were several, and a variety, but all were appreciated, if the empty plates were any indication. When bringing a dessert that is to be served in a buffet style for a large group of kids and adults, one has to consider multiple factors. For instance, what pleases kids does not necessarily appeal to the adults, and vice versa. There is the portability factor, the logistics of what can be served easily and what can hold well when sitting for a few hours.
To that end, I made trifle. Best as I can tell, it's an old fashioned British dessert of cake, whipped cream or creamy filling, fruit, all layered and allowed to sit for the flavors to meld. Alcohol is usually included, liberally at times. But here is the catch: there are now quite a few riffs on this idea, with differing cakes, fillings, fruits, alcohols. I never do well in this situation: I can rarely narrow it down to just one. No problem! I made a non-alcoholic version of one, and a boozy, more adult version of another. And being the kind of person who can't just leave well enough alone, I also morphed two recipes together for the adult version.
The kid version is largely unadulterated, and comes from Fine Cooking: A Black Forest Trifle, I monkeyed only with the recipe by eliminating the kirsch and adding more cherries. Must say, the kirsch would have made a good addition, as the sweetness would have been tempered somewhat. But the recipe is largely intact.
The other trifle was more involved in number of steps to assemble, but also more complex in it's flavors. The cake is a ginger bread, which I adjusted as I often find the molasses in these cakes to be overwhelming. So I cut it with honey.
The filling is a mix of egg yolks, mascarpone and whipped cream. The fruit. Well, that's where I deviated from the plan: the original recipe was lacking in fruit. But I found another recipe that uses these lovely poached pears. Aha!
So the basic recipe is from Fine Cooking, with the poached fruit from a Bon Appetit recipe, and it all has been adulterated across the board for my purposes.
Gingerbread Pear Trifle
I made this trifle 4 hours ahead of time, and it wasn't enough! I'm eating leftovers now, and find them much improved. This can be made 12-24 hours in advance, with great benefit.
Also there are several steps here, but most can be made in advance to break them up.
Make the cake:
1 1/2 c flour
1 1/2 t ground ginger
1 t baking powder
1/2 t kosher salt
2 pinches cloves
1/4 t cinnamon
3 oz (6 T) unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pan
3/4 c sugar
1 t grated lemon zest
2 eggs
1/4 c molasses
1/4 c honey
1/2 c milk
Preheat oven to 350F. Butter a 9 x 13 pan, line the bottom with parchment.
Whisk the dry ingredients, set aside.
Beat the butter, sugar and lemon zest until light and fluffy, about 2 min. Add the eggs one at a time, add the honey and molasses. Add the dry ingredients, alternating with the milk.
Scrape into the pan, smooth the top and bake until a cake tester comes out clean, about 25 min. Cool x 20 minutes, and then invert, remove the parchment and cool completely. If making ahead, wrap in plastic. It can be frozen if need more than 1 day in advance.
Make the pears:
1 bottle dry white wine
2 c water
1 1/4 c sugar
12-18 cardamom seeds (the inner black seeds from the pods)
4 x 1" diameter rounds fresh ginger
2 cinnamon sticks
6 firm but ripe pears (I used Bosc), peeled
Heat the wine, water, sugar and spices. When the sugar is melted, add the pears, and bring to a simmer, cook until the pears are tender when pierced with a knife. Remove from heat, allow to cool. If making ahead, chill in the syrup.
Make the syrup:
Remove the pears from the syrup, strain the syrup. You will only require about 1/2 of what remains, add 2 T brandy and set aside. This also can be chilled until ready to use.
Make the filling:
2/3 c sparkling wine
6 egg yolks
6T sugar
1 1/2 c cream
1 t vanilla extract
8 oz mascarpone, at room temperature
6 T coarsely chopped candied ginger
Whisk the wine, yolks and sugar in a metal bowl that will fit into a pot, place into said pot in which there are 2-3" simmering water. Make sure the bowl doesn't touch the water. Whisk constantly until the mixture is thick, lemon colored and pudding like. Your whisk should leave a trail when scraping the bottom of the bowl, this takes about 8 minutes. Set aside and whisk occasionally to cool.
Beat the cream, when thickened, add the vanilla and 1 T of the ginger syrup. Continue until medium peaks form.
Whisk the mascarpone into the cooled egg mixture, and then fold in the whipped cream.
Assemble the trifle:
Cut the cake into 1/2 " slices. Using 1/3 of the slices, place a layer into the bottom of a 14 cup trifle dish or clear large glass bowl. Brush with the ginger syrup. Sprinkle with 1 T candied ginger.
Reserve a nicer looking pear for the top.
Cut the pears in half, core and slice into horizontal slices and layer in bowl. Add 1/4 of the filling.
Repeat this step x 3. Finish with filling, and decorate the top with remaining pear and candied ginger.
The photo above had more whipped cream on top, as I failed to plan well for the filling, and ran short. This worked fine.
Make ahead x 12-24 hours.
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