This Luscious Dessert is No Trifling Matter!
I just love a great dessert, like this one from Jennifer! It is very hard to beat the visual, gluttonous appeal of this big ol’ bowl of dessert, otherwise known by the delicate name of “trifle.” The reason for that name has become lost in the annals of culinary history. No matter. All you need to know is that it tastes divine and there is plenty to serve a crowd. Or one very depressed person.
Actually, the history is not really lost, it is just “of little or no consequence” (which, incidentally is the exact meaning of the word “trifle”). For those inquiring minds that really want to know, the first reference to a trifle, as such, was in 1585 in a book of English cookery. It was a concoction of thick, sugared cream, flavored with rosewater and ginger. This type of dessert, from whence the trifle evolved, was also known as a “fool.”
As to why that “fool”-ish name was given to a dessert, let’s not even go there. I suspect it had something to do with the fact that if a person was slurping up sweetened, flavored cream, thinking it was a dessert….well, they were certainly being fooled. I guess the name just stuck, over the years.
USE THE RED NEXT PAGE LINK BELOW FOR THE RECIPE AND INSTRUCTIONS.
Quick Tip: Forget shaving that chocolate bar! Make your trifle truly stunning with chocolate curls on top. Here’s the easiest way to make gorgeous, foolproof chocolate curls. Place 3 oz. chocolate (squares or chips, any chocolate variety) in microwave-safe bowl with 1 Tbsp. veggie shortening. Heat 30-45 seconds, just until shortening melts. Stir with a fork until chocolate melts. Turn a metal cookie/baking sheet upside down and pour the chocolate mix over it, spreading it out with a spatula (or knife) in a very thin layer. Now stick it in the freezer for a few minutes. When you can touch it with your finger and leave just the slightest mark (not a depression) it is ready to make the curls (takes about 3 minutes). Take a sharp-edged spatula and scrape the chocolate from the bottom of the pan, by pushing it away from you. If it breaks instead of curling, it is too cold – let it warm up for a minute and try again. When it is the perfect temperature, it will curl. Now you have to hurry, before it gets too soft (if it does, put it back in the freezer). Put the curls on a cold plate in the freezer to harden them. When they have hardened, store in the freezer in a Ziploc bag until needed.
Recipe and image courtesy of Jennifer at Fab Fatale
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