Italian Trifle & Happy Father's Day

I never miss any chance of getting good recipes.  Whether I'm in the doctor's waiting room, at the hairdresser, waiting at the check-out or even at the plane.  I have to admit that I'm always attracted to dessert recipe.  So this is one of my new found.  It is a quick and yummy dessert that would be great to make for Father's Day.  (In Australia, this Sunday, 4 Sept is Father's Day)  The original recipe only use ready made custard.  I make my custard using custard powder and milk but at the end there isn't enough and I have no more custard powder left.   I end up adding whipped cream and garnished it with strawberries.  Sometimes situation like that always causes something extraordinary to happen!  The best part is the strawberries mixed with the cream and the two flavours custard.  You just want more strawberries to go with this dessert.  It really is a nice "marriage" between tiramisu and classic trifle.  I'm calling it "Heaven in the Glass" and you should know why once you have tried it!

Here is some of the gifts my kids made to their dad a few years ago.  Aren't they cute?  This year they're making him pizza for lunch.

Have a good weekend and Happy Father's Day!

Italian Trifle (Heaven in the Glass)
(serve 4)


For the custard:
50g dark cooking chocolate
2 teaspoons custard powder
2 1/2 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

For the sponge:
150g Sponge cake
1/3 cup strong coffee ( I add 1 heap teaspoon of coffee powder into 1/3 cup of boiling water)
2 tablespoons Kahula
1 teaspoon Bunderburg Rum

For garnish:
150ml whipped cream + 2 tablespoons icing sugar
fresh strawberries
50g dark cooking chocolate
25g milk cooking chocolate

Method:

1. Dissolve custard powder with a little of milk in a small saucepan.  Add sugar and the rest of the milk and stir over low heat until thicken.  Cool.
2. Melt chocolate in microwave under medium heat for 30 seconds and repeat until it melts.  Add half of the custard with the chocolate and mix well.
3. Cut the sponge into cube,  mix coffee with Kahlua and rum.  Brush the coffee mixture over the sponge.
4. Place a tablespoon of vanilla custard over base of the glass.  Top with sponge cake then chocolate custard.  Put into the fridge and make chocolate decoration.
5. For the chocolate heart or flower: melt dark chocolate in microwave at medium heat until melt.  Spread chocolate over a piece of baking paper.  Melt white chocolate in microwave at medium heat until melt, then spoon into a zip bag.  Cut a tiny corner at the bag and drizzle the chocolate over the dark chocolate.  Place the chocolate into the fridge until set.  Cut it into heart or flower shape with the cutter.  Top the trifle with whipped cream and garnish it with chocoalte and strawberries.

Source: adopted and modified from Super Food Ideas, August 2011, Issue128.