Black Forest Trifle
Ladyfingers:
6 eggs, separated
½ cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar (divided)
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
Cherry mixtures:
4 cups sweetened Door County Cherries with juice (divided, thawed if frozen)
Kirsch pudding:
1 cup sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
¾ teaspoon salt
2 ½ cups whole milk
¾ cup heavy whipping cream
1 egg, lightly beaten 1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream
¼ cup powdered sugar
¼ scant cup kirsch, or to taste
1 cup flour, sifted
½ teaspoon salt
Powdered sugar for dusting
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup kirsch 2 tablespoons kirsch
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons Dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted
For garnish:
Grated chocolate to generally coat top of trifle
Make ladyfingers: Position two racks in the center of oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheet with parchment paper.
In bowl of a stand mixer, beat egg yolks, ½ cup sugar and vanilla on mediumhigh speed until mixture doubles in volume. Very gently fold flour into the yolk mixture with a rubber spatula. Batter will be very thick.
In clean stand mixer bowl, with clean beater, whisk egg whites and salt on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 3 tablespoons sugar and whisk until soft peaks form again. Gradually and gently fold beaten whites into yolk mixture until just incorporated.
When ready, pipe about 4-by-2-inch fingers onto each of the prepared baking sheets, leaving at least 2 inches between portions of dough. Dust generously with powdered sugar. Batter will be on the thin side and will spread slightly.
Bake in preheated oven until very slightly browned around the edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Let ladyfingers cool on baking sheet 1 to 2 minutes. While they are still warm, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. You will get about 36 ladyfingers. You will not need to use them all; extras can be frozen. The recipe also can be cut in half.
Make cherry mixtures.
For cherries with syrup: Place 1 cup cherries in a medium saucepan with ¼ cup cherry juice and ¼ cup sugar. Bring to a boil and cook until mixture begins to thicken. Do not overcook. Cherries will remain whole. The consistency should be looser than a regular preserve for easy spreading over ladyfingers.
For marinated cherries: Place remaining cherries and juice in a bowl and add the ¼ cup kirsch. Cover, place in the refrigerator and let soak about 30 minutes. Drain the cherries before using, but retain the juice to drizzle over the ladyfingers. You may not need to use all the juice
Make kirsch pudding: In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch and salt. Add milk and cream and whisk to combine. Add egg, whisk again, and place saucepan over medium-high heat, whisking constantly. Once mixture begins to thicken and bubbles begin popping on the surface, turn heat to medium and whisk vigorously 45 seconds. Remove pan from heat. Add kirsch, butter and vanilla and whisk until they are incorporated. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until completely cool.
Make chocolate-kirsch whipped cream: In bowl of a stand mixer, pour in the cream. Whip on medium speed until just thickened. Add powdered sugar, kirsch, vanilla and cocoa powder and, with mixer on medium-high speed, whip cream until it holds stiff peaks that stand upright when the whisk is raised.
Assemble cake: For the first layer, using a small offset spatula or back of a spoon, spread more than half of the pudding on the bottom of an 8-inch trifle pan that is at least 4 inches tall. Cover as much of the pudding as possible with a layer of ladyfingers. You may have to cut some of them to fit. Spread all the cherries with syrup over the ladyfingers.
For the second layer: Add half of the remaining pudding, a layer of ladyfingers, half the marinated cherries, then drizzle a light sprinkling of some of the remaining juice from the marinated cherries over the mixture.
For the third layer: Add remaining pudding, another layer of ladyfingers, remaining marinated cherries and a light sprinkling of some of the remaining juice.
Finally, spread top of trifle with the whipped cream and then generously top with shaved chocolate. Gently cover pan with plastic wrap. Refrigerate 24 hours before serving. This year’s fair cocktail competition asked for a Milwaukee version of the Moscow mule. Here is the winning version, from Ashley Glembin of Brookfield. She won a $150 gift card from The Packing House restaurant.
Chocolate-kirsch whipped cream: