Lemon Curd Trifle with Fresh Berries

I have always found it amusing that the word "trifle" refers to something being trivial or small in quantity, certainly not representative of the dessert we know as a "trifle." How could someone reason that cake, custard, and fruit gorgeously piled in colorful, towering layers could be lacking in importance? Someday, when my time is free and my days are slow, I will enjoy reading about the etymology of such words, but until then, I am content to experience this grand dessert in spite of its disparaging name.

I chose a tasty trifle for my submission to Tyler Florence Fridays. For this recipe from Tyler Florence, lemon curd and fresh berries are paired with lemon cake to create a refreshing and delightful summer dessert. Instead of using the purchased lemon pound cake suggested in the recipe, I used Joy the Baker's recipe for Lemon Drenched Lemon Cake that I made months ago and saved in the freezer. (The cake is delicious enough to stand on its own but tasted even better in this trifle.) Making the lemon curd was the trickiest part of the recipe. I wish I had allowed the curd to cook and thicken a bit more, but once it chilled with the cake for several hours, the lemon curd "mousse" thickened substantially.

Fresh berries were the trifle's crowning glory. The simplest component of the trifle, the trio of sweet berries played beautifully against the tartness of lemon and created a dessert worthy of note. The trifle is best eaten on the day it is made, perhaps even better when re-visited for a midnight snack.

Interested in this recipe? You can find it here.