Holiday Favorites #1: No Trouble for a Trifle

Katie trying to get her Christmas Trifle fix in July...

It seems like every family has a few treasured recipes that always make an appearance during the holidays--if someone dares to buck tradition by replacing, say, Aunt Linda's Pumpkin Cheesecake with Bon Appetite's Dark Chocolate Torte with Gingersnap Crust, oh there will be hell to pay.

Sometimes though, you can really eat only so much of a certain dish. My mother's family was held hostage by Lemon Delight, a 50's throwback dessert that my mom made for Easter one year which was then requested for nearly EVERY family gathering for the next decade. I mean, I like Cool Whip, cream cheese, and lemon pudding as much as the next person, but really guys?

Thankfully, Lemon Delight has gone to a peaceful resting place in the pantry with the rest of my mother's recipes and instead I give you her recipe for Christmas Berry Trifle--a name I just gave it because "that trifle you made last Christmas that Katie likes" doesn't have as much of a ring to it.

She found the original recipe in Parade magazine at least ten years ago and since it was British-sounding (and wasn't Lemon Delight) I was on board. Since then, it's become a family favorite, particularly with my cousin Katie, who now buys anything with the name 'trifle' in it.

Ingredients
1 jar red raspberry jam

1 package vanilla pudding (cook and serve, not instant)
1 ten oz. package frozen red raspberries, thawed
1 ten oz. package frozen strawberries, thawed
3/4 cup dry sherry wine
2 pound cakes (thawed if frozen)
1 c whipped cream (from scratch)
Handful of slivered, toasted almonds


Directions
Cook pudding according to package directions. Cover pudding with waxed paper or plastic wrap to prevent skin from forming. Refrigerate 3 hours.

Drain raspberries and strawberries thoroughly in a sieve, measure 3/4 cup drained liquid and mix with sherry.

Slice both cakes crosswise into 10 pieces each. Sandwich jam in between slices of cake and cut again into fours.

Arrange the pieces of sandwiched pound cake along the bottom of a large glass bowl or trifle dish. Then pour half the sherry mixture over the cake; top with half the raspberries and strawberries, then half the pudding. Repeat the layering and chill for at least 4 hours. Cover with whipped cream and sprinkle with toasted almonds.