Recipe Snapshot: Blueberry Lemon Trifle

Our air-conditioning died sometime yesterday.  We didn't notice until it got to be about 76 degrees on the main level of our house (we keep it about 70 year round, since our upstairs is usually 5-6 degrees warmer).  I guess we shouldn't be surprised, since we're at the tail end of a record-setting heat wave.  And yet...we are at the tail end of a record-setting heat wave.  Which means it was 100+ yesterday, and 95 today.  By some miracle, it's still below 80 inside the house, and a refreshing 70-something in our basement.  Which, conveniently, is where our home office (and my computer!) is located.  The repair folks will be here tomorrow.  Please cross all of your fingers and toes that it's an easy fix and the house will be cool by the time I return from work.

Now, back to this trifle.  I made this blueberry lemon trifle last weekend when it was less hot.  I was looking for a no-bake dessert, since we're still having troubles with our oven.  While the original recipe involves baking, I substituted store-bought angel food cake for the homemade cookies.  (I think the cookies would have been delicious, so if my oven ever works again, perhaps I'll give that a try!)  It was a snap to pull together, and surprisingly delicious.

So what is a trifle?  It's really just a layered dessert, with layers of cake (or cookies), creamy filling, and fruit.  It's traditionally served in a tall clear glass bowl (usually footed), so that you can admire all the pretty layers.  However, I do not have a trifle dish, so I just made it in a souffle dish.  It may not look as pretty, but it sure tasted beautiful!

In addition to substituting the angel food cake for the cookies, I also made one big trifle rather than the small individual ones in the original recipe.  I also used just 2 cups of yogurt (yes, yogurt!) and a whole jar of lemon curd.  I was shocked at how good the yogurt-lemon curd cream tasted--it didn't taste yogurty at all.

Click for the recipe!

Blueberry Lemon Trifle, recipe adapted from Cake, Batter, and Bowl blog
Time: 30 minutes (plus time to "set"). Serves: 6-8, depending if you'll all be having seconds!

Ingredients

for blueberry sauce:

• 1 cup blueberries
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

for trifle assembly:

• 1 store-bought angel food cake, cut into 1-inch cubes (will have leftovers)
• 2-3 cups vanilla non-fat Greek yogurt
• one 10-oz. jar lemon curd
• 3 cups blueberries

Directions

1. To make the blueberry sauce, place blueberries, sugar, water, and lemon juice in a small saucepan over medium heat. 
2. Simmer for 5 minutes or until sugar is dissolved and berries have broken down. 
3. Let cool about 10 minutes and then pulse in a food processor until smooth (or blend with an immersion blender).
4. To assemble the trifles, start by whisking yogurt and lemon curd in a large bowl until smooth. 
5. Spread a thin layer of yogurt cream over the bottom of the dish you're using. Top with cubes of cake, a bit of blueberry sauce and some fresh blueberries. Layer once more the yogurt, five squares of cookie, a bit of blueberry sauce, and some fresh blueberries. Top with remaining yogurt, blueberry sauce, and garnish with fresh blueberries. 
6. Allow to set for at least 30 minutes (you could chill overnight--the cake will soak up more of the lemony creamy filling and blueberry sauce if you do this).  Serve and enjoy!