Trifle is one of those holiday favorites that I grew up with every now and then on special occasions. I ordinarily use strawberries. Although strawberries are few and far between on the cusp of winter! So, I've opted for raspberries. Which are equally delicious, but in much better supply this time of year. It necessarily because they should be. It is still fall, after all. Although they are a much better deal currently and Raspberry Zinfandel Trifle is absolutely delicious! And far simpler to make than the namesake might suggest.
I also sometimes make the pound cake. Although I went for minimal effort, maximum pizazz today.
This recipe is adapted from Sunset's Strawberry Zinfandel Trifle. I don't typically like to use recipes that are behind a paywall. Although I cannot find the recipe that I ordinarily use! And this one seems very similar, if not exactly the same. It's also available at Food's Strawberry Zinfandel Trifle, where the recipe isn't behind a paywall. Although it does have the same problem of saying to add "1/2 cup sugar" and then switches it to "1/3 cup sugar" and neither recipe has comments that specify which one it's supposed to be. I ended up going with an amount slightly in between the two that was a little bit more than 1/3 and a little bit less than 1/2 cup. I suspect that it matters more how sweet your Zinfandel is and how long you simmer it with the sugar than precisely how much sugar there is to begin with.
Occasionally I'll make my own pound cake for this recipe. Although I didn't entirely feel up for that today! (Shout out from the future, I ended up getting sick this weekend and being sick for about 3 weeks. So, that's awesome!) But you know what? We do what we can. And a special thanks to Sara Lee, who makes the only ready-made pound cake that I've honestly probably ever seen. It's in the frozen food isle.
I did make the Whipped Cream, though, because homemade whipped cream is infinitely better tasting. Plus it only takes a couple of minutes to toss together. I do it by hand with a whisk. Although it's also easily made with a handheld mixer or in a stand mixer with a whisk attachment.
I also apparently don't own a trifle dish. So, add that to my Christmas list.
Gallery
Variations of Raspberry Zinfandel Trifle
I'm not one to make Raspberry Zinfandel Trifle all that much. I don't even cook with fruit all that much! I cook with fruit in the way that tomatoes are a fruit and not actually a vegetable. Although I cook a lot more savory dishes than I do sweet ones. I'm honestly not the biggest fan of sweets. So, I tend to balance those flavors out with spicy and bitter flavors. There are a variety of things that you can do in the berry family, though.
This Raspberry Zinfandel Trifle recipe consists of fresh raspberries, pound cake, a bottle of red zinfandel, sugar, vanilla extract, and homemade whipped cream. You can use store-bought whipped cream. Although all it takes is heavy whipping cream powdered sugar, and a little elbow grease. I sometimes tell the burliest man in the room that I'm sure he's more than capable and it gets knocked out in five minutes.
Add wine and sugar to a saucepan and bring to a boil.
Boil for 5 minutes, or until reduced to roughly 1 cup.
Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract and raspberries.
Let rest for 1 hour.
Whipped Cream
While the zinfandel is cooling, make the whipped cream by adding all of the ingredients to a large bowl and whisk.This takes about 15 minutes by hand. Alternatively, you can use a handheld or stand mixer to cut it down to about 5 minutes.Whisk until stiff peaks are formed. You should be able to pull the whisk out of the bowl and the whipped cream should stay in little mountains. If peaks don't form, whip for longer. Although make sure not to over whip the cream. It will then create butter!
Assemble Trifle
Cut the pound cake into 1/2-inch cubes.
Arrange 1/3 of the pound cake in the bottom of a dish.
Pour 1/3 of the raspberry zinfandel mixture over the pound cake.
Top with 1/3 of the whipped cream.
Repeat the pound cake, raspberry zinfandel mixture, and whipped cream 2 more times.
Serve immediately or chill.This is a great recipe to make ahead of time. If I'm strapped on time, I'll usually make it the night before an event!
Tips, Tricks, & Notes
You can also buy store bought whipped cream. I'm just partial to making it, myself. It has a much better flavor profile and doesn't have that metalicky out of a can taste. Plus, it's a much simpler than to do than it seems and is a great way to impress your guests!
I also sometimes make my own pound cake. Although this is much more labor-intensive. Making my own whipped cream was as fancy as I was going to go with it today. Although, it is fun, if you want to take it up a notch!
As a general rule, I don't like to edit my images and I am firmly against alteration of images in food blogs. It's not something that we generally think about when it comes to recipes. But food styling, editing, alteration, and even faking entirely is just as rampant a problem in the recipe realm as anything else! Cooking is a very visual art and you can tell when a lot of foods are cooked based on the color. So, when this is altered and you can't use the coloration as a gauge, it makes it quite difficult to follow some recipes. I have an entire article about Food Styling and Unrealistic Expectations of Recipes.
Because of this, I try very hard not to alter any of my photos. I like to take photos with natural sunlight during the day. Ordinarily this is very true to color and I don't edit the photos at all. However, since my place is very warm with a lot of yellow lighting, sometimes my camera overcompensates and ends up with an unnatural blue tone. In the following images on this page, I adjusted the levels and hue to try and make this more true to color. In the interest of transparency, these are the before and after photos.
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