Grand Raspberry Trifle part 1 (The pound cake!)

Greetings from my kitchen! As I look outside, I am no longer delighted by the glories of a white winter. As of last night, the lovely snow began to melt and it has been very rainy most of the morning. I personally think this is when winter becomes long and boring. However, baking never stops, even if the weather sucks. Today for my baking endeavor I have begun the first step of what I hope will eventually turn out to be a delicious Grand Raspberry Trifle. The recipe calls for your favorite pound cake, but since I don't usually want to buy those pre-made things, I decided to make a pound cake, which from the taste of the batter, seems to be a success.
This trifle will be for about 20 people who are finishing up their first term before Christmas holidays. I found this recipe on Martha Stewart.com, who is surprised?! The pound cake is also from that site,  I will include both recipes in this post. I will be serving this trifle in individual wine glasses, which I think makes it elegant and classy. I will not be able to finish the whole thing tonight, so this is a bit of a long process for me, but if you can do it in one shot, then it shouldn't take you that long. The pound cake, can be purchased pre-made if you choose for that, otherwise the recipe says it takes roughly an hour to bake them. Other preparation time is 20 minutes. This will look beautiful on a Christmas spread or for your holiday parties.

Until my next post tomorrow, where I will be sharing about Christmas candy...enjoy the sites around you!
Barefoot and Baking in the kitchen

Today's Pound Cake:


Mixing the butter and sugar for 5 minutes. The recipe
said 8, but I was afraid my mixer would overheat. This
part is supposed to be light and fluffy.

Adding the 9 eggs in 4 parts.

Adding flour, mixture then begins to become
more stiff and heavier

Batter will be heavier and very smooth

Ready to go in the oven. The recipe says to put in bread
forms, but I only have one, so I put it in this form as well.
Since you are going to cut the slices anyway and set them
into the wine glasses or glass container, it doesn't really
matter which baking form you use...in my opinion.
But don't tell Martha!

Recipe for Grand Raspberry Trifle:

English trifle can be made in one large dish or several small dishes. Ours combines fruit, jam, juice-drenched pound cake, and whipped cream. To make individual raspberry trifles, follow steps 1 through 3. In each of 10 glass serving dishes or wineglasses (1 1/2-cup capacity), follow procedure in step 4, making only two layers in each glass.

Ingredients

Serves 10

• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup seedless raspberry jam
• 4 cups raspberries
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 1/2 pounds favorite pound cake

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, bring 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup water, and lemon juice to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar, 1 to 2 minutes. Let cool.
2. In a small bowl, combine jam with 3 cups raspberries, mashing slightly. In a large bowl, whip cream and 2 tablespoons sugar to stiff peaks.
3. Slice pound cake 3/4 inch thick; brush both sides of slices with lemon syrup.
4. Fit 1/3 of slices snugly in the bottom of a 4-quart trifle dish or other glass bowl, trimming edges if necessary. Gently spread top of layer with 1/3 of raspberry mixture, and then 1/3 of whipped cream. Repeat to make two more layers; garnish with remaining cup raspberries. Refrigerate until ready to serve, up to 24 hours.

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Grand Raspberry Trifle - Martha Stewart Recipes

 

 

Recipe for the Pound Cake:

 

Ingredients

Makes 2 cakes

• 1 pound (3 1/4 cups) all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon coarse salt
• 4 sticks softened unsalted butter, plus more for pans
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 9 large, room-temperature eggs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter two 5-by-9-inch loaf pans. Combine all-purpose flour and salt in a bowl.
2. Cream butter and sugar with a mixer on high speed until pale and fluffy, for 8 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl. Reduce speed to medium, and add vanilla extract.
3. Lightly beat eggs, and add to mixer bowl in 4 additions, mixing thoroughly after each and scraping down sides. Reduce speed to low, and add flour mixture in 4 additions, mixing until just incorporated. Divide batter between pans. Tap on counter to distribute; smooth tops.
4. Bake until a tester inserted into center of each cake comes out clean, about 65 minutes. Let cool in pans on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Remove from pans, and let cool completely on wire rack.

Read more at Marthastewart.com: Classic Pound Cake - Martha Stewart Recipes