Orange-Cranberry Holiday Trifle
with Maple Cream and Almonds
Trifles are the ultimate show-stopping dessert centrepiece for any holiday table and this one is a stunner! The tart and zesty cranberry compote beautifully cuts through the delicate richness of the maple cream, and the buttery pound cake is the perfect vehicle to catch all those lovely flavours. The Queen of England likes trifles so much that she selected a trifle as the official dessert for her Platinum Jubilee!
The quantities provided above are averages only.
Produced in a facility that processes milk, sesame, eggs, fish, shellfish, crustaceans, mustard, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybean and sulphites.
Ingredients
304 g
Vanilla Pound Cake
(Contains Egg, Soy, Milk, Gluten)
1 unit
Orange
227 g
Whole Cranberries
1 tbsp
Cornstarch
4 tbsp
Maple Syrup
474 mL
Cream
(Contains Milk)
1 tbsp
Unsalted Butter
(Contains Milk)
½ cup
Icing Sugar
28 g
Almonds, sliced
(Contains Almonds)
Not included in your delivery
¼ tsp
Salt*
Nutrition Values
Utensils
Cooking Steps
Night before (or early morning): Before starting, wash and dry all produce. Day of: Before starting, preheat the oven to 425°F. Cut butter into 16 equal-sized cubes. (NOTE: Each cube is 1 tbsp. This will be your butter for all recipes.) Zest, then juice orange. Add water to orange juice to make 1 cup. Reserve 2 tbsp icing sugar in a large bowl. Set aside until ready to make whipped cream in step 4. Stir together cranberries, orange juice and water mixture and remaining icing sugar in a medium pot. Bring to a gentle boil over medium-high heat. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until most cranberries burst and compote thickens slightly, 6-9 min. Remove the pot from heat. Stir in orange zest and 1/8 tsp salt. Set aside to cool to room temperature. When cooled, cover compote and place in the fridge until ready to assemble trifle, overnight or at least 4 hr.
While compote simmers, add cornstarch and maple syrup to a small pot, then whisk until smooth. Whisk in 1 carton cream. Heat the pot over medium, whisking occasionally at first, then more often as mixture warms, until mixture comes to a gentle simmer and thickens slightly, 5-7 min. Remove the pot from heat. Add 1 tbsp butter and 1/8 tsp salt. Whisk until butter melts. Carefully place a piece of plastic wrap across the surface of maple cream. Set aside to cool to room temperature. (TIP: Putting plastic wrap on the surface prevents a skin from forming!) When cooled, place maple cream in the fridge until ready to assemble trifle, overnight or at least 4 hr.
Arrange almonds on an unlined baking sheet in a single layer. Toast in top of the oven until golden-brown, 3-4 min. (TIP: Keep your eye on almonds so they don’t burn!) Transfer almonds to a plate. Set aside until ready to serve trifle.
Meanwhile, cut pound cake into 3/4-inch pieces. Add 1 carton cream to the large bowl with reserved icing sugar. Using an electric mixer or hand whisk, beat cream until medium peaks form, 4-6 min (2-3 min with an electric mixer on medium-high). Remove maple cream from the fridge, uncover, then stir to loosen. Remove orange-cranberry from the fridge, uncover, then stir to loosen.
Arrange one-third of the pound cake in a single layer on the bottom of a large glass trifle bowl. (NOTE: You can also use a large glass bowl or 6 parfait glasses!) (TIP: For extra festive spirit, drizzle 1 tbsp of brandy, sherry or triple sec over pound cake!) Spoon half the orange-cranberry compote over pound cake in an even layer. Spoon half the maple cream over compote. Repeat this layering process with remaining pound cake (and liqueur if using), remaining compote and remaining maple cream, finishing with a final layer of pound cake on top. Dollop whipped cream on top to cover pound cake. Cover assembled trifle with plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge until ready to serve, 4 hr.
Before serving, sprinkle toasted almonds over trifle.