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Summer’s sultry heat poses problems, especially for anyone contemplating a pastry project in triple-digit temps. You can always grill steaks and sides for that backyard bash, of course, but a do-ahead dessert is a vastly better idea than turning on the oven — or serving barbecued eclairs.
So say hello to the summer trifle, whose cake layers can be swiftly baked days ahead, then layered with pastry cream and fresh fruit into trifle stardom the morning of your party. Done right, the result is a delightful, chilled dessert.
We tend to think of trifles as a British yuletide thing, San Francisco pastry chef Emily Luchetti says in the new cookbook, “Feed Your People: Big-Batch, Big-Hearted Cooking and Recipes to Gather Around” by Leslie Jonath and 18 Reasons. But the dessert is even more delightful in midsummer, when it’s made with fresh, seasonal fruit and bright flavors.
These days, Luchetti oversees the sweet side of dining for San Francisco’s Big Night restaurant group, which includes The Cavalier, Marlowe, Park Tavern and Leo’s Oyster Bar. But when she entertains at home, one of her favorite desserts is a seasonal trifle made with blueberries and lemon curd, perhaps, or strawberries and peaches. Brush a little liqueur on the cake slices, if you’d like, before assembling the layers. And be sure to let the trifle chill in the fridge for 4 to 8 hours to set.
Luchetti’s not the only pastry chef to play with the trifle concept. America’s Test Kitchen’s Jack Bishop makes his summer trifle with strawberries, blackberries and raspberries, or combines raspberries with stone fruit. And his trifle, which is drizzled with sherry, chills for 6 to 36 hours.
Trifles, he says, are “a component recipe,” and every component, from the cake to the pastry cream, can be done ahead of time.
“You can break up the work and take off in different directions,” Bishop says. “If you wanted to buy a sponge cake at the supermarket and skip that step, your world will not end. If you were going to cut corners: the cake. But please, please, make your own pastry cream! It’s so much better than what you can buy.”
