A Breakfast Trifle

Perfect for Mother's Day, a birthday, or because you want dessert in the morning

Mother’s Day to me is lilacs, lilies of the valley and azaleas.

Those were the flowers I picked from the backyard every Mother’s Day as a kid. I’d stuff them into a glass and my dad would put them on the Danish teak breakfast tray to bring up to my mom. Breakfast was just toast with butter and jam and coffee. Coffee was key.

With the climate changing, azaleas and lilacs now start to bloom two weeks before Mother’s Day, which makes me wistful. Luckily this year, the lilies of the valley are still in full force, so I can gather up bunches of them to fill my house

For Mother’s Day, I dreamed up a little breakfast trifle. Obviously, it’s good for any occasion. It’s simple to make and the kind of playing-with-your-food type of dessert that kids and grown-ups might enjoy making together. The trifle is made up of layers of lemon yogurt cake that are sandwiched with raspberry jam (or lemon curd) and soaked in a rosé simple syrup, which alternates with macerated strawberries and vanilla yogurt. It’s open to about 34 billion different iterations depending on your mood, the contents of your refrigerator, and whether you want to pay $6.99 for a pound of strawberries.

Jammy cake. Lemon curd is equally as good.

Don’t be put off by the length instructions: Each element is actually simple. The key is to make them ahead of time. The trifle could do with a rest before its served to let the flavors meld. I’m sure you’d appreciate a rest too.

Grandma’s glasses with rose syrup in the background

Cake, soaked in rosé syrup and topped with macerated strawberries, patiently waiting for the yogurt to be dolloped.

Questions you might have:

1. Why do I need to make a cake? Can I just buy a store-bought pound cake? No judgements here. Do whatever makes your life and this dessert easy for you.

2. Why do I need to make a simple syrup? Along with adding moisture to the cake, the rosé flavor gives it an elegant touch. Also: All decent trifles have liquor-soaked cake. I thought it was a bit too early in the AM to be eating sherry soaked cake, so I created a simple syrup that tastes like wine, but has no alcohol left in it.

3. I don’t drink alcohol. What do I do about the syrup? You can make a simple syrup with just 1 cup of water in place of the rosé. You can flavor it with a drop or two of lemon oil or a tablespoon of lemon juice.

4. Macerate the berries? Isn’t that overkill? Nope. The little bit of sugar added helps to bring the juices out of the berries.

5. Ew. Yogurt. Gross. Make a creme Anglaise or layer in whipped cream instead. You know, if vanilla pudding is your thing…that could be my-t-fine. (Get it? Anyone?)

6. Must I use raspberry jam with the cake? Why aren’t you using strawberry? That seems inconsistent, Marissa. Do you have a problem? Are you a berry anarchist? Nope. I just don’t like strawberry jam all that much. I also make this with store-bought lemon curd (thank you Trader Joe’s), which is very super good.

   

Strawberry And Rosé Breakfast Trifle: Printable Recipe!

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Strawberry and Rosé Breakfast Trifle

Makes 4 to 6 individual trifles (depends on the size of your serving glasses)

What You’ll Need:

For the macerated strawberries

• 1 pound of strawberries

• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

For the rosé simple syrup

• 1 cup (200 grams) of granulated sugar

• 1 cup of dry rosé (237 ml) (alternatively, you can use champagne, elderflower liqeur, or any juice you like)

For the lemon yogurt cake

• ½ cup (123 grams) plain yogurt or Greek yogurt

• 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar

• grated lemon zest from 2 medium-sized lemon

• 3 large eggs

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1 ½ cups (180 grams) all-purpose flour

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• ½ teaspoon salt

• ½ cup (about 118 ml) neutral flavored oil (such as sunflower or grape seed)

To assemble the trifles

• Raspberry jam or lemon curd

• Vanilla yogurt (not Greek) (You’ll need about 1/2 cup for each trifle)

Attractive glasses of some sort in which to serve the trifle.

What You’ll Do:

Make and bake the cake

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Once you get the hang of this cake, you can have it ready by the time the oven is at temperature. This is an easy cake—a bowl and whisk kind of cake. Grease a 9” square baking pan. (If you only have round, fret not. It will still work.)

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the yogurt, sugar and lemon zest. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla until fully incorporated. Add the flour, baking powder and salt and mix until just combined. Pour in the oil and whisk until smooth (there should not be lumps!).

3. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean, or maybe with a crumb or two.

4. Let the cake cool. If not using right away, wrap well in plastic wrap or foil to keep it fresh and moist until you’re ready to assemble the trifles.

Meanwhile….

Make the simple syrup

1. In a small saucepan stir together the sugar and rosé over low heat. Let the sugar melt completely, stirring occasionally. When the mixture is translucent and all the sugar crystals have dissolved, let the mixture cool. If not using right away, store in in the refrigerator.

   NB: Any leftover can be used to macerate other fruits, or used in champagne cocktails.

Macerate the strawberries

1. Wash and dry the strawberries. Remove the green stems and chop the strawberries into small pieces (less than 1/2”). Put the strawberries in a small container, sprinkle with the sugar and stir well. Cover the mixture and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.

Assemble the trifles!

1. Remove the cake from the pan and slice it in half horizontally. Spread a generous amount of jam or curd on the bottom half of the cake. Replace the top half of the cake.

2. Slice the cake into 1 1/2” strips. From these strips, slice 2 cake squares for each glass you plan to serve. (In other words, if you are making 6 glasses, you will cut 12 squares.) The area of the square should approximate the diameter of the serving glasses.

3. In the bottom of each serving glass, pour a 1/4” of rosé simple syrup. Place a square of cake on top and pour a tablespoon or two more of the syrup over the cake. Add 2 or 3 tablespoons of macerated strawberries on top. Place large dollops of vanilla yogurt over the strawberries (about 1/4 cup). Repeat with another chunk of cake, syrup, berries and some yogurt. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24.

4. Decorate with a sprig of mint, an edible flower, some chopped strawberries, sprinkles, or whatever strikes your fancy.

I hope you all have an enjoyable weekend. It’s been some kind of week, news-wise. There’s lots to celebrate (E. Jean winning a fight for the sisterhood! George Santos being indicted on 13 counts and having to surrender his passport! Bosco getting his first run in the woods of spring!) and a lot of disturbing things, including Kevin McCarthy holding the debt ceiling hostage and CNN’s
Trump town hall, where among so many bad things, I was truly disturbed by Trump calling Kaitlan Collins “nasty,” and the audience breaking into gales of laughter at her expense. Like a bunch of teenagers in the high school cafeteria.

What are you thinking about today? Let me know in the comments.

Here is a palate cleanser of Bosco’s dirt-caked nose after his spring romp in the woods and a roll in a horse ring. And! A special discount offer on subscriptions!