Red Berry Trifle

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I made this trifle for Christmas because it looked soooo good when Ina made it. The recipe was easy but I had to go out and buy items that I normally do not buy such as Framboise, cognac, unsalted butter, trifle dish, etc. I had a little trouble finding the Framboise but after calling around a few places, I found it. I would not skip the Framboise because it does add flavor and moistness to the pound cake. I did not have any trouble with the cognac cream and it came out nice and creamy. The trifle looked FABULOUS after it was all put together and it got a lot of applause when I took it out of the fridge. Even though it looked beautiful, it was not really worth the time I spent running around but I am glad I made it.

Just some suggestions: I made this again to take to a New Year?s party and I made a few changes. I used Angel Food cake instead of the pound cake because I thought the pound cake in this recipe was to dry and thick. I still sprinkled the Framboise on the Angel Food cake. I used store whipped cream. Instead of buying a whole bottle of Cognac, I went to the liquor store and got a 50ml mini bottle for $3 and used vanilla pudding instead and it tasted EXACTLY the same. Faster, cheaper, easier, and everyone loved it.

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I am not a big dessert person normally, but this was soo good. I did not make any changes to it. Whole family loved it! Will definitely make again!

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I hosted christmas dinner this year, wanted to have different desserts beside apple and sweet potato pie. It was easy to make, I almost scarmbled the eggs but stopped cooking just in time. Delicious, although I did not make the pound cake. I impressed by 23 year old daughter. Thanks Ina for another good dessert.

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First and foremost, I am an avid Ina follower and fan and quite an experience home cook. I have read most of the reviews here. This trifle would have been perfect if my custard would have come together. Christmas Eve on the way to our family function, I was pulling into a grocery parking lot trying to sub my custard for pudding. I assembled everything together including the instant pudding to which I generously added a healthy pour of cognac and some vanilla. The trifle was delicious and no one except for me knew it was supposed to taste even better.

I used the XL eggs the recipe called for and followed Ina's video and directions. I think what happened is I did not let the custard come to the "almost boiling" point long enough out of fear it would turn into scrambled eggs. I will try this again and I hope my results will be better!

Couple of points: I used the crate and barrel trifle dish.
* Needed only one pound cake
* Baked pound cake a week ahead and defrosted it the day I assembled
* Used Chambord vs. Framboise and worked lovely
* Used a seedless raspberry jam
* 1 pint of strawberries and raspberries each was plenty. I thought I would need more and I didn't even with a little one asking me for a strawberry every few minutes :

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Every single component of this recipe was PEFECT. The custard cream was SUBLIME. The pound cake - rich and buttery. Everything came together perfectly. For those of you whose creme did not come together, did you really use the XL eggs? Most pastry chefs use eggs and other ingredients by ounces, and since the eggs were such a key component in thickening this sauce, that may have made a differnce. I could have eaten a whole bowl of this sauce.

I made the pound cake a week or so before, and froze it. One pound cake is enough if you dont get hyper about covering every square inch of the trifle bowl. Its OK if you dont!

The framboise is optional, though I did use it. A FABULOUS raspberry jam, I think, is more important. I used "seedless."

All that said, I think I would have actually liked this trifle the same day we assembled it, rather than a day before. But that is just me!!!!

Since I do think every single component of this recipe was soooo fabulous, I also think I may have liked it - in a fancy culinary word I've heard tossed around - a "deconstructed" trifle. Meaning, a slice of pound cake on a plate, with a pool of the custard cream under/around or on the cake - sprinkled with berries, and topped with whipped cream.

Most pound cakes seem to use frozen fruit. The fresh berries in this was so delicious.

A boxed pudding would not even come CLOSE to this custard. I would use that in other recipes as well.

Ina, for your next cookbook, I do encourage you to put this recipe in it!

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I had the same experience with the cognac cream as Dot from Sewell, NJ. After it almost became scrambled eggs, I strained it and it lost consistency. When I added the cognac, it became thin, settling to a soggy mess in the bottom of the bowl. Tasted great with the scrumptuous pound cake, but lost its wow factor. However, my adult daughters preferred it to Bobby Flay's gingerbread lemon curd trifle with blackberry sauce, which I loved. It was the berries that made the difference for them.

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I made this for New Years Eve. It is out of this world!!!!!! The cream was amazing. It was very easy to follow. Everyone gobbled it up. One word for this dessert ....PERFECTION!!!

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I made this for NY Eve dessert. It had a wonderful taste but honestly was not worth the work and trouble. I was not happy with the cream. Unfortunately, I read the reviews AFTER I made it. I cooked it and stirred it constantly for well over 10 minutes and it wouldn't thicken. Then, suddenly, it did start to look like "scrambled eggs" so I quickly removed it from the heat and had to put it through a sieve to get the "scrambled eggs" look out of it. I( didn't want to throw away the mixture since it contained so many ingredients. It was very very thin and runny. The pound cake was OK - I've had better recipes but it wasn't bad. If I ever make this again, I think I will opt for a box of cooked vanilla pudding and just add a little extra milk. Also, 2 TBL of vanilla was way too much for the whipped cream on the top of the trifle. It was way too strong. Sorry, Ina. I usually love your recipes.

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My mom made this for Christmas...This was the most delicious dessert EVER...and even better a couple of days later. The flavors of the cognac cream and berrys and the moist pound cake all made for a scrumptious dessert. It didnt last very long at our house thanks to me, i think i might even give it a shot and make one for New Years. Its just Fabulous!!!!!! Thanks Ina

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Served this for Christmas dinner. Because I was pressed for time, I used frozen pound cake. If I do that again, I'll use 2 cakes. One was hald what was needed. Like otehrs, the cream did not thinken but I'll give it another try another time. My guests loved it.and as they were raving about it, they also rememberd the merangues I made last year----yes, Ina's recipe. Gotta love that woman.