A Sweet Inheritance
With Denise Goodman
I remember my grandma, Antoinette (Toni) Meza Pitfield, making trifles for gatherings. I was always amazed as a kid by how she layered it so pretty. I helped her make it a few times. She taught me what a trifle was, explaining the layering of foods. She made a strawberry trifle more than anything I remember. She’d have trifles for Christmas or Thanksgiving— sometimes for just a get-together, but not as often as holidays.
Grandmother Toni Pitfield
Strawberry Trifle Ingredients
This is the recipe I’ve made 100 times. It’s my go-to. I started my trifle probably 15+ years ago. I use it for no reason, not just for holidays. Sometimes I make them in individual cups for showers. I even made them in wine glasses for my daughter Brandi’s prom dinner. Since then, she has made it for larger gatherings because it is such a big dessert and goes farther. My grandmother would use her fingers to place the fruit perfectly, to make sure all areas were covered, and a spoon for layering the jelly and whipped cream, spreading it so pretty on the top. It was almost her masterpiece. I miss the heck out of her! She taught me the art of presentation in food. It has to be as perfect and as pretty as I can make it!
1 16-oz Angel Food Cake
Directions
2 clamshells of fresh strawberries
Cut cake into 1-inch
1 container strawberry gel 8-oz cream cheese, softened 1 can condensed milk 8-oz whipped topping
squares.
Slice strawberries and place in a mixing bowl, saving one large berry for a garnish.
Add gel to the sliced strawberries and mix well.
Place cream cheese and condensed milk in another bowl. Use an electric mixer to blend until smooth.
In a trifle bowl (or any clear bowl that will let you see the layers!) place 1/3 of the cake.
Drizzle with 1/3 cream cheese mixture. Top with 1/3 of the berry/gel mix. Repeat steps 5-7, making 3 layers of each: cake, cream, berries.
Finish with a layer of whipped topping. (If you have a cake decorator, save a small amount of the whipped topping to garnish with pretty flowerets. Place a slice of the saved berry on each flower to finish the garnish.)
24 Winter Issue 2021