A trifle is an English dessert made of layers of fruits, custard, whipped cream or sponge cakes and sometimes intoxicated with a little alcohol such as wine or sherry. A Christmas trifle, it being uniquely festive, must therefore come in shades of red and white (green would be difficult except with garnishes). And that’s exactly what I had whipped up to celebrate the first day of Christmas.
I have a habit of scrolling through my Pinterest pins to review the endless list of recipes that I have saved for my better (and more carefree) days. There is a particular recipe of Christmas trifle that I have kept pinned on my ‘Recipes to try’ board since a long time ago – it always looks very tempting and delicious, yet probably too sweet a dessert to make in bulk (which may be necessary so that the ingredients can all be used up in one attempt). I have hence passed on this recipe many times and, finally, I am looking back at it and thinking: Heck! Let’s do it!
I am usually very put off by cream-based recipes, but this one turned out surprisingly tasty and light, mostly due to the cream cheese which complemented the heavy cream and vanilla flavour very well. The cherry turned out equally tasty without being overly sugary sweet and queasy. In addition, I decided to get some oat crackers instead of the graham ones, to add some textures and earthy flavours to the trifle, which worked out perfectly. So there, my version of Christmas trifle is served.
Most importantly, the little kiddo loved it lots. I told him it’s ice-cream and he took my words for real.
Ingredients:
- Oat or Graham cracker: 6 pieces
- Cream cheese: 200g (softened)
- Heavy cream: 2 cups
- Icing sugar: 1/2 cup
- Vanilla extract: 1 tsp
- Cherry pie filling: 1 cup
- Mint leaves: 1 stalk
Method:
- Crush graham crackers in a bag with a rolling pin.
- Place equal amounts (about 1 biscuit each) into base of serving cups.
- Whip together cream cheese, heavy cream, icing sugar and vanilla extract together till smooth.
- Spoon 2 tbsp cream mixture into serving cups, followed by 2 tbsp cherry pie filling. Repeat once more, with the cherry pie filling topping the layers.
- Chill in fridge for 1hr.
- Garnish with mint leaves to serve.
Disclaimer:
- This recipe was kindly adapted from Freebie Finding Mom’s ‘Cherry Cheesecake Trifle Dessert‘. I substituted Cool Whip with heavy cream and Graham crackers with the oat ones.
Serving:
8 small (dessert) cups
