Cat Santamauro gets sweet with her third Thanksgiving recipe. After Game Hen and Pumpkin Gnocchi, you really didn’t think she’d make a pie now, did you? Let’s get our Trifle on.

Chocolate Cranberry Trifle

This is a truly decadent dessert. The tartness of the cranberries is perfectly balanced by the rich, almost spicy chocolate cake, and the warmth of the double vanilla custard. This dish may seem very complicated but each step it is relatively simple. The best part is most of it can be made at least a day in advance, in some cases, several days. Furthermore, it is also best left in the fridge overnight before it served which gives the flavors time to mingle. So if you are cooking like crazy on Thanksgiving it is nice to be able to make the dessert a day ahead of time, you can have one less thing to worry about come crunch time.

Cranberry Amaretto Jam

Ingredients:

• 12 oz bag of cranberries (fresh or frozen, not thawed)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• ½ cup Amaretto Liqueur

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan mix all ingredients and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally for 20-25 minutes.
2. Force through a fine sieve or food mill to remove skins and seeds.
3. Let cool completely. Can be made the up to three days before and stored, covered, in the refrigerator.

Double Vanilla Custard

Ingredients

• 4 egg yolks
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons of cornstarch
• 2 tablespoon of flour
• Vanilla bean, split length wise
• 1 ½ cups whole milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ cup heavy cream

Directions

1. It a bowl beat egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch and flour till light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
2. In a saucepan over med-low heat bring milk and vanilla bean to a simmer. Remove from heat.
3. Remove vanilla bean, scrape seed back into the milk.
4. Add about 1/3 of the milk into the egg mixture. Stir to combine.
5. Pour the egg mixture back to the milk mixture and return to heat, whisking vigorously for 30 seconds to a minute or until thick. If it gets too thick or lumpy, remove from heat and add a little bit of milk and whisk like crazy until it is smooth.
6. Add vanilla, and set to cool completely. Place plastic wrap on the surface of custard to prevent skin from forming.
7. Whip cream on high speed until stiff peaks form. Fold into custard mixture. (can be made one day ahead, but if you do, bring it to room temperature before using.)

Dark Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 stick of butter
• ¼ chopped dark chocolate
• ¼ cup cocoa powder (As dark chocolate as you can find, I like Hershey’s special dark cocoa)
• 1/3 cup strong brewed coffee or espresso
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup well shaken buttermilk (or vanilla yogurt in a pinch)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Butter and flour a 9×9 inch pan.
3. In a saucepan over med-low heat, melt butter and chocolate. Remove from heat.
4. Add cocoa, coffee, sugar, egg, buttermilk, and vanilla. Mix well.
5. In a separate bowl mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.
6. Add chocolate mixture and stir till just combined.
7. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 40-50 min until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
8. Let cool completely

Assembling The Trifle:

Trifle is best served in a glass container so you can see all the lovely layers. You can serve it in one large dish, but I prefer to serve them in individual glasses, tumblers or wine glasses are especially nice.

Cut cake into ½ slices and rip to fit the container. Layer in the following order: cake, cream, jam. Repeat at least twice. You want the layers nice a thick, and make sure they go all the way to to the edge so you can see them. Finish with either the jam or the cream. You can also top with additional whipped cream or sliced almonds. Let sit in the refrigerator at least 5 hours so the flavors can spend some time together.

– Cat Santamauro

catFood is one girl’s mission to teach people the art of simple food with big flavor. She loves cheese, crafts, and her Kitchen-Aid mixer. She can often be found around fresh produce and curing the common cold with Matzo Ball Soup.