For Memorial Day and the Fourth of July, I love to make a Red, White, and Blue Trifle. To keep it red, white, and blue, I stick with strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries for the fruit. The organic strawberries that I just got yesterday from Jake’s Farm in western North Carolina are the sweetest berries I have had since I remember picking strawberries from my Papa’s back yard up in Mattapoisett, Massachusetts when I was little – so juicy and naturally sweet.
A trifle basically has three layers that you repeat until you fill your serving dish – for this glass bowl, I am able to do three layers of three layers – a bread or cake layer, a “cool whip” type layer, and a fruit layer.
Layer One: Tear up pieces of angel food cake, lady fingers, or some type of gluten free cake or cookie with a similar consistency. (I’m working on an gluten free Angel Food Cake recipe, but click here for a recipe I found on a Celiac website if you want to test one out yourself.)
Layer Two: Cool Whip or a preservative-free homemade version like the one I found here from The Thrifty Mama’s website: http://www.thethriftymama.com/2010/11/homemade-cool-whip.html – simply making homemade whipped cream won’t cut it in a trifle because whipped cream is not meant to stand up for very long. (This recipe calls for xantham gum – if you cook gluten-free, you probably have this on hand, if not, you can buy xantham gum at most health food stores.)
Layer Three: The Berries! Slice strawberries and use whole blueberries and raspberries for the red and blue berry layer. I use about 1 quart of strawberries and 1 pint of blueberries and raspberries to make three layers of berries.
Repeat the layers until your dish is filled to the top. Share and enjoy!
