To Trinidadian Chicken and Rice and Creole Spiced Slaw with Sweet and Spicy Jerked Cashews from Caribbean Potluck (Kyle Books, May 2014) by Two Sisters and a Meal Suzanne Rousseau and Michelle Rousseau add this easy no bake holiday dessert.
Easy No-Bake Ginger Lychee Trifle
Trifle is a common dessert in the Caribbean during the holiday season, and is admittedly very British in origin. Because of our colonial past, many of our food influences came from the socalled mother land, and the tradition of Christmas trifle is one of them. This easy version, which uses a store-bought rum cake as its base, was inspired by an incredible trifle we ate one night at the Guilt Trip Restaurant in Kingston, and the supreme talent of its chef/owner and fellow foodie, Colin Hylton.
Colin’s innovative use of local fruits and ingredients in his dessert creations are nothing short of extraordinary. His culinary creations, both sweet and savory, define modern Caribbean cuisine at its most glorious.
Serves 12
2 teaspoons Bird’s custard powder
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons sugar
1 envelope powdered ginger tea
2 teaspoons peeled and grated ginger
1 small store-bought rum cake (or 1 pound cake, drizzled with rum), split horizontally into 3 layers
1⁄4 cup ortanique or orange juice
1⁄4 cup sliced almonds, toasted
2 ortaniques or Valencia oranges, in segments
1 (14-ounce) can lychees, sliced (liquid reserved)
For the Drunken Whipped Cream
1⁄2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon rum
Method
1 Place the custard powder in a small bowl. Warm the coconut milk, heavy cream and sugar in a saucepan, stirring until the sugar melts. Pour the hot cream mixture over the custard powder and whisk until the custard begins to thicken. Add the powdered ginger tea and grated ginger and whisk to combine. Set aside to cool.
2 To make the drunken whipped cream, in the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the cream, sugar and rum until stiff peaks form.
3 To assemble the trifle, place a layer of rum cake at the bottom of a glass bowl, top generously with one-third of the ginger custard, drizzle with ortanique juice and sprinkle with almonds. Add one-third of the ortanique segments and lychees, top with another layer of rum cake, pour over another third of the ginger custard and 1⁄4 cup lychee juice and top with almonds, lychees and oranges. Add the final layer of cake, followed by the remaining third of the custard and juice and topped with the rest of the fruit. Top with the drunken whipped cream and a sprinkle of almonds.
Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.
Ingredient note:
Powdered ginger tea, which is already sweetened, can be purchased at a Caribbean grocer or online
(* Recipe excerpted from Caribbean Potluck by Suzanne Rousseau and Michelle Rousseau -Kyle Books, May 2014- Photography by Ellen Silverman– all rights reserved)