The Washington Post - USA (2021-12-22)

E10 EZ EE THE WASHINGTON POST.WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 22 , 2021

Thanksgiving languishing in the

freezer, you can use that.

The only element to this trifle

that I believe requires a dedication

to rule-following is the custard. It

is the custard that makes this dish

compelling. It is the custard that

sent my family back for seconds

and, in some moments of dimin-

ished willpower, even thirds.

That’s the point, after all, of the

dessert you serve at the holidays.

The coda to the meal need not be

the most complicated item you

produce, but it should certainly

inspire a certain conversation,

e ither externally or internally:

Should I get just a little bit more?

The answer, of course, is yes.

Make the trifle. Layer it high with

the ingredients you love. Cheat a

little bit — or even a lot. And when

you kick back at the end of a long

holiday meal, allow yourself the

hard-fought glory of seconds. You

deserve it.

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You might even prefer to macer-

ate fresh berries and use them in

place of the compote. A hint of

ground ginger or even cinnamon

would work well in the dairy as it

heats, but neither is necessary. You

can — and should — tailor your

holiday trifle to both your palate

and to your pantry. This dessert is

about feeding a crowd, yes, but it’s

also about the path of least resis-

tance.

I prefer the soft peaks of home-

made whipped cream, but even

the cream in this recipe requires a

caveat: No one will blame you if

you opt, instead, for the canned

stuff. In fact, Reddi-Wip, piped at

the last minute, offers a decorative

touch.

To that end, feel free to use

other tricks to make this recipe as

p antry-friendly and easy as possi-

ble. The cranberry compote I’ve

included is no more than a quick

whole-berry cranberry sauce. If

you have some of leftovers from

Ingredients

For the custard

l10 large egg yolks

l 11 / 2 cups (268 grams)

granulated sugar

l^1 / 4 cup (33 grams) cornstarch

l4 cups (945 milliliters) whole

milk

l2 cups (480 milliliters) heavy

cream

l2 tablespoons (30 grams)

unsalted butter

l1 teaspoon freshly grated

nutmeg

l^1 / 8 teaspoon fine salt

l1 teaspoon vanilla extract

l1 teaspoon finely grated orange

zest

For the compote

l2 (12-ounce/340 gram) bags

fresh or frozen whole

cranberries; defrosted if frozen

l 13 / 4 cups (350 grams)

granulated sugar

l^1 / 4 cup (60 milliliters) fresh

orange juice

l1 tablespoon finely grated

orange zest

l2 tablespoons orange liqueur,

orange-flavored liqueur, such

as Cointreau or Grand Marnier

l1 teaspoon finely grated lemon

zest

For assembly

l1 panettone (1^1 / 2 to 2 pounds/

680 to 910 grams total), torn

into 1-inch chunks

l3 tablespoons orange-flavored

liqueur, such as Cointreau or

Grand Marnier, divided

l1 cup (240 milliliters) cold

heavy cream

l2 tablespoons granulated

sugar

l^1 / 2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Steps

lMake the custard: In a medium

bowl, whisk together the egg

yolks with the sugar until the

mixture is pale yellow, about

2 minutes. Whisk in the corn-

starch until combined.

lIn a heavy-bottomed saucepan

over medium heat, combine the

milk, cream, butter, nutmeg

and salt and bring to a simmer

while stirring constantly.

R emove from heat.

lWith a ladle in one hand and a

whisk in another, drizzle a

small amount of the heated

liquid into the egg yolk mixture

while whisking. Continue to

pour the milk-cream mixture

into the eggs in a steady stream

while whisking until the base of

the bowl feels warm to the

touch.

lPour the tempered egg yolk

mixture into the saucepan with

the remaining milk and cream

and set it over medium heat.

Whisk constantly until the mix-

ture comes to a boil, 5 to

8 minutes (it should start to

thicken to the consistency of

pudding). If it seems thin, con-

tinue boiling for a few minutes

more, stirring constantly.

Strain through a fine-mesh

sieve into a bowl, if desired, or

pour directly into the bowl.

lStir in the vanilla extract and

orange zest. Cover, and if

d esired, place a piece of plastic

wrap directly onto the surface

regular pomegranate eater, you

may have had pomegranate as a

kid if you ever had a Shirley Tem-

ple — the most famous mocktail of

all, red as Rudolph’s nose — or lat-

er in a Jack Rose or Tequila Sun-

rise. The grenadine syrup that

gives that pop of red is, in theory,

pomegranate-based — the name

grenadine derives from pome-

granate — but many commercial

grenadines long contained little if

any of the fruit. You can now find

better craft versions of grenadine,

and the availability of fresh pome-

granate juice has also made it easi-

er to make your own, or to incor-

porate the juice directly. The juice

tastes like a cranberry upgrade,

with a similar sweet-tart tannic

note but deeper flavor.

This was the first time I’d mixed

with the Martini & Rossi Fiero,

which I’d been eyeballing for a

while. Its color had me assuming it

was a red bitter Italian liqueur, but

it’s actually a citrus-forward ver-

mouth — the smell of this stuff is

reminiscent of what you get when

you express an orange peel over

the surface of a cocktail. Aperol

would be a reasonable substitute if

you can’t find the Fiero, but the Fi-

ero works great for bumping up

the orange note in a drink without

adding as much sweetness. All-

spice and Benedictine add rich-

ness and complexity before you

dry things out with a bottle of brut-

style bubbly.

Try to bring some sliced pome-

granate in as a garnish here. The

seeds will sink on their own, but

the pith is buoyant. If you slice up

some quarter-inch wheels and

then cut them in half, those will

float in your punch, the crimson

seeds shining, along with whatev-

er else you want to use to brighten

things up: wheels of orange and

lemon, sprigs of rosemary and

thyme, a few whole star anise and

a scattering of allspice berries.

It’s probably clear I’m more

Team Pomegranate than Team

Cranberry, but I’ll acknowledge

raw cranberries have one advan-

tage: They float. So if you have

some around after executing other

cranberry holiday recipes, throw a

handful in the brew, too. Go all in.

When you haven’t gotten around

to decking the halls, decking the

bowl is the next best thing.

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Allan is a Hyattsville writer and editor.

Follow her on Twitter:

@Carrie_the_Red.

family get-togethers, I usually
make three or four by the moment
the Times Square disco ball shim-
mies downward.
I’m aiming for something re-
warding for both palate and eye, a
drink that’s delicious and can
serve as a holiday centerpiece. The
boozy world is full of delicious
punches that, when mixed, turn
out varying shades of warm
brown. And in the autumn, I’m all
about those rustic hues, virtually
inevitable when you’re mixing
with whiskeys or other spirits that
have spent some time in the barrel.
But for winter holiday parties,
especially during this dark year, I
want to see some color in the
punch itself, something to bright-
en the room and the mood.
This creates a number of com-
positional challenges. It suggests a
need to limit the base spirits most-
ly to white ones (gin, vodka,
u naged rums and tequilas), lest
you muddy the hue of the drink.
And then you have to figure out
what you can pour into the flowing
bowl that will taste good, play well
with other ingredients, make your
punch pop with holiday color and
not completely break the bank.
Heck, if I could afford to make a
green Chartreuse-based punch for
every holiday party, I would. Those
bottles of herbal monastic magic
glow green and gorgeous, but at
$60 a pop, I tend to dole out their
contents in Scrooge-like dollops. If
three ghosts visit to warn me about
the direction of my life, I’ll offer
them shots of Fireball. They may
add that to my roster of sins, but at
least they won’t get my Chartreuse.
I have more options if I go red,
where I can get the color from
juice, syrup, liqueur or all of the
above. This year’s offering, Perse-
phone’s Punch, is rouged up with
both pomegranate and scarlet Fie-
ro, an aperitivo that complements
it nicely. Pomegranate was the
fruit eaten by the goddess Perse-
phone when she’d been kidnapped
by Hades and was stuck in the un-
derworld — a myth once used to
explain the seasons, and now per-
haps a good one for our covid mo-
ment, when we keep hoping to
surface into sunlight only to get
dragged back into the hole.
If you’ve seen the inside of a
pomegranate, you’ll understand
why someone would be tempted:
Cutting into one is like opening a
purse full of rubies. If you’re not a

SPIRITS FROM E1

For a deep red punch,

start with pomegranate

BY HANNAH SELINGER

I like to think of the trifle — the
traditional English dessert that
layers cake, custard, fruit and
cream — as a catchall dish. On
more than one occasion, I have
found myself neck-deep in the re-
frigerator, rifling through familiar
items to throw into the composed
sweet. A trifle can be a wild group-
ing of items: something rich and
creamy, something tart, some-
thing light and airy. That the lay-
ers look lovely in a tall glass bowl is
a bonus.
This summer, I found myself in
possession of far too many eggs.
My CSA sent a dozen a week, and
my picky toddlers had decided
that they no longer liked them.
There are only so many mornings
that you can eat two eggs for
breakfast, and so I began experi-
menting. What could I make with
eggs?
I made ice creams and cakes,
pudding pops and breakfast for
dinner, before landing on a versa-
tile recipe: Custard. Little more
than egg yolks, milk and cream
brought to a gentle boil with vigor-
ous stirring, it provides a blank
canvas for so many desserts.
In the case of this recipe, cus-
tard is infused with nutmeg as it
cooks, a warm spice that offers a
hint of holiday spirit. A trifle can
be produced in parts: Cook and
cool your compote on a Tuesday,
prepare your custard on a Thurs-
day, assemble it all before Satur-
day’s holiday dinner. The result is
a large-format dessert that can
feed 10 to 20 of your nearest and
dearest and that feels, from a
cook’s perspective, like something
you quickly tossed together.
The elegance of its presentation
— undulating ribbons of custard,
cake and compote — conceals the
truth of this dessert. It’s easier to
make than a buche de noel, more
satisfying than a plum pudding.
The brilliance of this recipe, too,
is that it can sustain any necessary
permutations. Don’t have leftover
panettone lying in wait? You can
use a fruitcake, a pound cake or
even slightly stale breakfast muf-
fins (the moisture from the com-
pote makes up for any staleness).
In the compote, substitute the
dried cranberries for apricots, or
even for prunes, for a subtle nod to
Christmas pudding.

Cranberry and Custard Trifle

10 to 20 servings (makes 10 cups)

This adaptation leans heavily on panettone, the Italian confection,

but if you want to make your own cake, a basic pound cake, accented

with Cointreau, will work well, as would almost any cake or muffin you

happen to have around

The dessert can also be assembled in individual glasses.

Panettone can be ordered online or found in well-stocked grocery

stores during the holidays.

Active time: 1 hour; Total time: 1 hour, plus 4 hours of chilling time

MAKE AHEAD: The custard and compote need to be prepared and

chilled in advance of assembling the trifle. Both can be refrigerated for

up to 3 days ahead of assembling. The assembled trifle should be

refrigerated for at least 2 hours before serving.

The prepared compote can be refrigerated for up to 1 week or frozen

for up to 2 months. The assembled trifle, without the whipped cream,

can be frozen for up to 1 month. Thaw in the refrigerator and top with

cream just before serving.

From food writer Hannah Selinger.

of the custard to keep a skin

from forming. Refrigerate until

well chilled, about 2 hours.

Keep cold and covered until

ready to use.

lMake the compote: In a heavy-

bottomed saucepan over

m edium-high heat, combine

the cranberries, sugar, orange

juice and zest, orange liqueur

and lemon zest. Cook, stirring

the mixture often, until the

cranberries pop, about 5 min-

utes. Reduce the heat to

m edium-low and cook until the

compote thickens slightly, an

additional 2 minutes.

lRemove from the heat and let

cool completely in the refrigera-

tor before assembling the trifle,

about 1 hour. The compote will

continue to thicken in the re-

frigerator.

lAssemble the trifle: About

15 minutes before you plan to

assemble the trifle, remove the

compote and custard from the

refrigerator.

lOn the bottom of an 8- to

10-cup trifle dish or any large,

deep-sided glass vessel, layer a

third of the panettone, covering

the base of the bowl entirely.

Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of

the liqueur.

lUsing an offset spatula, evenly

spread a third of the cranberry

compote over the panettone.

Spoon a third of the custard

over the compote and use an

offset spatula to smooth it out to

the edges.

lRepeat the layering two more

times, then cover with a piece of

plastic wrap sprayed with non-

stick cooking spray and refrig-

erate for at least 2 hours and up

to 12 hours before serving.

lWhen ready to serve, in the

bowl of a stand mixer fitted

with the whisk attachment or

using a large bowl and a hand-

held mixer, combine the cream,

sugar and vanilla and b eat on

high speed until soft peaks

form, about 2 minutes. Spread

the whipped cream over the top

of the trifle as desired. Serve in

small bowls.

Nutrition | Per serving (^1 / 2 cup) based on 20:

493 calories, 6 g protein, 60 g

carbohydrates, 22 g fat, 13 g saturated fat,

175 mg cholesterol, 135 mg sodium, 2 g

dietary fiber, 49 g sugar

Recipe tested by Ann Maloney; email

questions to [email protected]

To tackle a spectacular trifle, build it bit by beautiful bit

LAURA CHASE DE FORMIGNY FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

FOOD STYLING BY LISA CHERKASKY FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Persephone’s Pomegranate Punch

12 to 15 servings (makes scant 7 1 / 2 cups)

Pomegranate juice can be found at supermarkets. Martini Fiero, an

orange-forward vermouth, can be found at liquor and some wine

stores, but if you can’t find it, Aperol makes for a decent substitution.

Active time: 20 mins; Total time: 20 mins, plus 1 day to make the ice

block

MAKE AHEAD: The punch base can be made up to 1 day in advance

and refrigerated. The big block of ice needs to be frozen 1 day before you

plan to serve the punch: Fill a cereal bowl with water and place in the

freezer.

From Spirits columnist M. Carrie Allan.

Ingredients

l 11 / 2 cups pomegranate juice

l1 cup silver tequila (or vodka)

l^3 / 4 cup Martini Fiero citrus

vermouth (can substitute

Aperol)

l^1 / 2 cup allspice dram liqueur,

such as St. Elizabeth

l^1 / 2 cup Benedictine liqueur

lStar anise pods, allspice

berries, rosemary sprigs, citrus

wheels, slices of pomegranate,

for serving (optional)

lIce (preferably a large block;

see Make Ahead)

l1 (750-milliliter) bottle brut-

style sparkling wine, chilled

Steps

lIn a large bowl, stir together

the pomegranate juice, tequila,

vermouth, allspice liqueur and

Benedictine until combined.

Cover or bottle the punch base

and refrigerate until ready to

serve.

lWhen ready to serve, prepare

whatever garnishes you plan to

use: Rinse the herbs and fruits,

trim the brown stem part of the

pomegranate, and slice the

fruits into thin wheels, then set

aside.

lSet the block of ice in the

punch bowl and gently pour

the punch base over it. Stir

gently, then garnish as you like.

Gently pour in the chilled spar-

kling wine. Stir again gently,

then, ladle the drink into

punch cups or coupes.

Nutrition | Per serving (^1 / 2 cup), based on

15: 161 calories, 0 g protein, 12 g

carbohydrates, 0 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0

mg cholesterol, 3^1 / 2 mg sodium, 0 g dietary

fiber, 5 g sugar

Recipe tested by M. Carrie Allan; email

questions to [email protected]

LAURA CHASE DE FORMIGNY FOR THE WASHINGTON POST; FOOD STYLING BY LISA CHERKASKY FOR THE WASHINGTON POST