Strawberry Banana Trifle
No matter where I take this dessert, the bowl gets emptied in minutes. It's fun to make because everyone oohs and ahhs over how pretty it is.
No matter where I take this dessert, the bowl gets emptied in minutes. It's fun to make because everyone oohs and ahhs over how pretty it is.
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 pint fresh strawberries sliced
- 1 cup cold water
- 1 3/4 cups cold milk
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream whipped
- 3 1/4 oz instant vanilla pudding mix
- 3 tablespoons strawberry gelatin powder
- 3 medium firm bananas sliced
- 6 cups angel food cake cubed
- additional strawberries or banana slices, optional
- Carbohydrate 47.5234656050805 g
- Cholesterol 25.9357142857143 mg
- Fat 7.5092251427202 g
- Fiber 1.86733854459258 g
- Protein 4.92741364255932 g
- Saturated Fat 4.43453846427896 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (183g)
- Sodium 4479.17356502919 mg
- Sugar 45.6561270604879 g
- Trans Fat 0.524940964245789 g
- Calories 270 calories
Step-by-step
- In a saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch and gelatin; stir in water until smooth. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat. Stir in strawberries; set side.
- In a large bowl, combine milk and pudding mix. Beat on low speed for 2 minutes set aside. Toss bananas with lemon juice; drain and set aside.
- Place half of the cake cubes in a trifle bowl or 3-qt. serving bowl. Layer with half of the pudding, bananas, strawberry sauce and whipped cream. Repeat layers. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Garnish with additional fruit if desired.
Towering glass vessels filled with alternating strata of sponge cake, fruit, and cream rely on precise moisture management to maintain textural contrast. English trifles historically utilized leftover sponge cake soaked in fortified wine, whereas modern iterations often substitute flavored gelatin bases to bind fresh fruit. Angel food cake provides an airy matrix that absorbs fruit juices without collapsing into dense paste.
Structural Assembly and Setting
Cornstarch requires a rolling boil to fully hydrate and eliminate a raw starch flavor, while gelatin must be dissolved completely before cooling to ensure a firm set in the strawberry sauce. Toss sliced bananas in lemon juice immediately; citric acid lowers the pH, halting the enzymatic oxidation that causes browning. Allow the assembled dessert to rest covered in the refrigerator for a minimum of two hours. This duration permits the angel food cake cubes to hydrate uniformly from the surrounding pudding and fruit juices.
- If scaling this recipe down for smaller gatherings, maintain the proportional ratio of cornstarch to liquid to prevent a watery fruit layer.
- Whip heavy cream to stiff peaks before folding to maintain structural volume under the weight of upper layers.
- Store leftovers sealed for up to 48 hours; beyond this window, the bananas will soften past acceptable structural tolerances.
