This post has been sponsored by Oakhurst
This past week was my husband’s birthday. Every year he asks for some sort of light cake with berries and homemade whipped cream. Well this year the boys and I decided to surprise him with a picnic at the ocean. Only thing was I wasn’t quite sure how to bring his usual birthday treat to the beach!
That’s when I decided I’d turn his favorite birthday dessert into a trifle. After all, it’s all the same components: pound cake, fresh berries and homemade whipped cream. But would you believe that I’ve actually never made a trifle? I know, right! And it’s so easy and was the perfect dessert to take on the go (hello new go-to dessert when I’m asked to bring one for an event!)
I pulled out my favorite pound cake recipe and got to work. And yes, you guessed it, a full pound of butter goes into making this pound cake! But since it makes 4 mini loaves you can actually freeze extra loaves for another time. While you could absolutely use store-bought pound cake for this recipe, with only 6 simple ingredients the cakes whip up in no time.
Now no trifle is complete without a cream layer. It’s not even a question when I purchase my cream…I always reach for Oakhurst Heavy Cream. Being born and raised in New Hampshire, Oakhurst is a household name! It’s a local New England company who is committed to protecting Maine’s farming heritage…and since we are neighbors to Maine then we are all for this! Oakhurst Heavy Cream really is filled with that Natural Goodness of Maine; and it’s not filled with any of that junk such as artificial growth hormones. When I say real homemade whipped cream that’s exactly what my family is getting!
Now let me tell you a little secret about my homemade whipped cream. For years my family would sweeten it with sugar and flavor it with vanilla. Well one day I was out of vanilla extract. What I did have though was some of our own real maple syrup. So I figured I’d give it a try! And oh my goodness we have yet to sweeten or flavor our whipped cream with anything else. Plus for whatever reason the maple syrup whipped into the Oakhurst Heavy Cream really holds its consistency…which is exactly what you need when making my Mixed Berry Trifle.
The next time you are heading to the beach, or need to bring a dessert to a family gathering, give a Mixed Berry Trifle a try. And if you spend a few extra minutes decorating the top with fresh berries then plenty of “oohs” and “ahhs” are sure to follow. (Trust me, we had numerous people stop on the beach to admire the Trifle as I was taking these pictures!)
Mixed Berry Trifle
Ingredients
Pound Cake:
- 2 cups unsalted butter softened
- 4 cups confectioners sugar
- 6 eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups flour
- ½ teaspoon salt
Homemade Whipped Cream:
- 2 pints cold Oakhurst Heavy Cream
- ¼ cup real maple syrup
Mixed Berry Triffle:
- 3 small loaves of pound cake cut into 1” cubes
- Homemade Whipped Cream
- A pint each of blueberries raspberries, blackberries and sliced strawberries
Instructions
For the Pound Cake:
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In the bowl of a stand mixer cream together the butter and confectioners sugar for a good 5 minutes. You want it very light and fluffy so don’t skimp on this part! Next add your eggs, one at a time, beating well after adding each egg. Beat in your vanilla extract. In another bowl, combine your flour and salt. Slowly add about ⅓ of the flour mixture to your creamed mixture and slowly mix it in. Add the next ⅓ and mix until combined. Finally, add the rest of the flour mixture and carefully mix it in, taking care to not over mix your batter.
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Well grease 4 mini loaf pans (you could also use 2 standard size 9”x5” pans). Evenly divide your batter among the pans and spread the batter evenly. Your pans will be quite full but shouldn’t be overflowing.
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Bake at 325 for 45-50 minutes until very golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted in the very middle comes out clean.
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Let fully cool on a wire rack before removing from the pans.
For the Whipped Cream:
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You’ll want to use a hand mixer (or stand mixefor this one! In a clean bowl start beating your 2 pints Oakhurst Heavy Cream. Once you start getting quite a few bubbles you can add your maple syrup. Continue beating on high until your cream becomes whipped and stiff. But don’t over beat (or it will turn to butter!)
To assemble the Trifle:
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Wash and dry all your berries and combine them in a bowl.
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In your trifle bowl put a layer of the cubed pound cake. Next add a layer of mixed berries. Add a nice thick layer of your whipped cream. Add another layer of pound cake, berries and top with whipped cream (depending on the depth of your trifle bowl you may need to add one more layer of each). Use some of the remaining berries to decorate the top. It was really quite simple, I just did a circular row of each type of berry ending with sliced strawberries around the very edge.
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You can store in the fridge for the day but it definitely doesn’t keep the best overnight.
