Merry and bright holiday desserts
INGREDIENTS
1 pint heavy cream 1 teaspoon gelatin 13 ounces white chocolate, chopped ½ cup whole milk ¼ cup sugar 2 tablespoons water 4 egg yolks 1 quart fresh raspberries 2 pounds of pound cake, cut into large dice
1 cup simple syrup flavored with Chambord black raspberry liqueur
INSTRUCTIONS
Assemble trifle bowl to be used as the serving container. Whip the cream to soft peak. Cover and reserve in refrigerator. Bloom the gelatin in ½ cup of water. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over barely simmering water. Bring the milk to a boil and gently stir into the melted chocolate. Melt gelatin in bowl overwarm water or melt in microwave and add to the chocolate-milk mixture. Stir well. Combine the sugar and water in a small pot and boil until it reaches 250 degrees.
Meanwhile, whip the yolks on high speed with the whip attachment un- til light in color. Pour the sugar syrup into the yolks as they are whipping and whip until the mixture cools. Fold the yolk mixture into the chocolate mixture. Gently fold in the reserved whipped cream. Start to assemble the trifle. Spoon a small amount of mousse in the bottom of bowl. Sprinkle a handful of the pound cake and raspberries on mousse. Drizzle the simple syrup over the cake and berries. Add another layer of mousse, this time a bit thicker. Continue layering with the fruit, pound cake and syrup. End with a layer of mousse. Sprinkle with raspberries and shaved white chocolate. Tie a festive ribbon around the trifle bowl for presentation.
Note: You can easily double the mousse recipe. If you have extra, you can pipe or spoon the mousse into champagne glasses for another dessert.