Time for a Trifle!

It's "real" Memorial Day today - May 30th - summer's unofficially here, you can wear white all over without offending the senior set, and best of all....fresh berries are hitting the supermarkets in full force!

So for a family BBQ today, I've busted out my trifle dish (mine's an old family one, but the link will show you the general idea) so I can throw together one of the easiest and prettiest summer desserts you can make.

Here's what you need:

* A trifle dish or large glass mixing or serving bowl - preferably with a domed lid

* A pint each of washed, hulled and halved strawberries (go extra with the strawberries), blueberries, raspberries...any berries you want, really - but we're making ours a patriotic red, white and blue today.

* Stiffly whipped cream (toss in some powdered sugar and a hint of vanilla) or a container of Cool Whip*

* A prepared/store-bought angelfood cake, cut lengthwise into thirds (so you have 3 rings)

Here's what you do:

1. Take 8-10 of the strawberries - the mushy or less than aesthetically appealing ones - place in a small bowl and coarsely mash with a fork until some juice is running in the bowl.

2. Sprinkle 2 Tb sugar over the mashed berries and set aside for 5 minutes while you whip the cream and slice the cake. Stir and mash again after the berries have broken down a bit more with the sugar doing its job.

3. Place the bottom layer of the cake into your dish. Spoon a third of the strawberry mixture over the cake, then ***CAREFULLY*** apply a layer of 1/4 of the whipped cream, and a layer of strawberries, positioning them against the glass first so that they show nicely, then working your way in.

4. Repeat this process - add cake (press it down gently to smush down the layer underneath), then strawberry juice, whipped cream, thick layer of blueberries...and again...cake, strawberry juice, whipped cream, with your final layer of raspberries on the very top. Fill the center hole with a dollop of cream, remaining berries, and plug it with whipped cream, then put raspberries over the top of that, too. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and

5. Refrigerate for an hour or so to let it chill and settle, then serve!

There are two great things about this dessert The first is the presentation. If you are careful about layering, it looks pretty from the outside of the glass dish (the whipped cream is the key - if you slime it around on the sides too much, it obscures the berries). I always get compliments about how nice it looks...but it doesn't take much work or skill. A win-win!

The second is its flexibility - you can make a dessert out of just about anything leftover and it still looks good. We've used sliced bakery-outlet-stale pound cake, even chunks of leftover ubiquitous birthday/whatever event white sheet cake, topped it with homemade raspberry jam that didn't set right, ice cream, more cake and raspberry slime...leftover chocolate sheet cake, ice cream, with hot fudge and white chocolate chips on top...nilla wafers, vanilla pudding, bananas, and whipped cream for a chocolate free Lent dessert...you can soak your cake with rum or creme de cacao for the adults....the possibilities are endless.

Hard to screw this one up, so give it a shot and have fun!


* Cool whip is probably better - only because it's a little more durable - if this is going to be sitting out for awhile at a party like the one we're going to today. Otherwise I prefer the real stuff with my own flavoring added.