Cranberry Trifle Recipe

As promised, here's the recipe for the Cranberry Trifle I made for my neighborhood cookie party. The recipe comes from the current (December 2008) issue of Everyday Food. If you want a copy of the magazine, I found it in the check-out isle at Publix...it's about the size of a Reader's Digest.

Cranberry Trifle

2 bags (12 oz each) cranberries, fresh or frozen (I used fresh)
2 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons finely grated peeled fresh ginger
1 bar (8 oz) cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups heavy cream
2 homemade or store-bought all-butter pound cakes, 12 oz. each, cut into 3/4-inch-thick slices
Candied Orange Zest (recipe follows for zest)

In a medium saucepan, combine cranberries, 2 cups granulated sugar, ginger and 2 cups water. The ginger is the yellow looking stuff in this pic. At first I was worried that 2 tablespoons of fresh ginger would be overpowering, since ginger is pretty strong. It wasn't though...it was just right!

Bring to a simmer over medium heat; cook until cranberries begin to burst...8-10 minutes. They were just starting to burst when I took this pic.

Let compote cool completely. To speed up the cooling time, I poured the compote into a large bowl and stuck it in the refrigerator...otherwise it would have taken a really long time to cool because it is really thick and syrupy.

Make cream filling: Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese, brown sugar, remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar and vanilla on high until well combined. With mixer on medium, gradually add heavy cream; continue beating until soft peaks form.

Arrange 1/3 of cake in a 3 quart serving dish. (I bought the boxed Duncan Hines pound cake mix. This would probably be "slap your Mama good" if you used pound cake made from scratch...I just didn't have that kind of time.)
Spoon 1/3 of compote over cake; spread to sides of dish. Dollop 1/3 of cream filling over compote; spread to sides of dish. Repeat twice more, ending with cream filling. Cover; refrigerate at least 2 hours (or up to 1 day). Garnish with Candied Orange Zest, if desired. (I highly recommend making and garnishing with the Candied Orange Zest...it was one of the best parts of the trifle!)

Recipe for Candied Orange Zest:
In a medium saucepan, bring 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 cup water to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add zest of 1 orange (peeled into long strips with a vegetable peeler); simmer, swirling occasionally, until zest is tender...8-10 minutes. Drain, and transfer to a plate. Dredge zest in sugar, and thinly slice.

I found it tricky to cut the zest after dredging...felt like I was knocking some of the sugar off. Might be better to cut it first and then dredge it through the sugar. Or, better yet...cut it, put it back into the syrupy water you just drained off and then dredge it...that way the sugar will really stick well. You try it and tell me what works best. :-)

Here's the finished product...

It was a hit at the party and began disappearing fast...you can see the layers in this photo...

Merry Christmas...from my kitchen to yours! :-)