Strawberry Coconut Tres Leches Trifle

[Suzyengl]

Has anyone made this trifle before? I have a wedding shower on the 22nd and the theme is "fiesta". Mexican Food is being catered for the shower. Would this be a good show recipe? Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Suzy in Texas

 

[Shari in TX]

This is one of my favorite trifle recipes! And that's saying a lot because I really only like ones with chocolate in them. But this one is so flavorful and light -- I love it.

The only issue I have found with it is sometimes finding the ladyfingers is hard and when you do find them, they are expensive. I have substituted pound cake, angel food cake or those strawberry shortcake shells you find near the strawberries in the grocery store and I think the angel food cake works the best. It's the closest consistancy and soaks up the other flavors well.

I did this at a show a couple years ago and it was a huge hit. The demo was fun and everyone devoured the trifle.

Shari in TX

 

[Suzyengl]

Thanks, Shari. Would you recommend pound cake as the best substitution? And I have never made this recipe before-woud you recommend I "practice" it at home first? PC recipes always come out so well-just want to be sure there are no "surprises"!

Thanks,
Suzy in Texas

 

[Shari in TX]

I always find I'm the most comfortable doing something when I've done it at home first. I figure out which steps can be completed ahead of time or partially done ahead of time. For example, you can take all the stems off the strawberries except one or two before the show starts and then demo the Core 'N More on those instead of doing them all. I even recommend slicing most of them ahead of time. Unless you are really good at cutting while talking about something else or you have lots of guests willing to help, I find that just showing a small part of a step usually works best for me.

As far as the cake part goes, if you can't find, or don't want to spend the money on, the ladyfingers, I'd use angel food cake or a sponge cake of some sort. It comes closest to the texture. The pound cake is a little heavy although it's fine in a pinch.

I'm sure you can find some friends or family members who will suffer through eating the trial trifle you make at home. I know my family never minds when I use them as my test kitchen subjects.

Shari in TX

 

[jendill]

IMHO I like pound cake. Angel food cake "dissolves" to quickly and is not very good left over. I cut the pound cake smaller than it calls for and it works very well. The strawberry short cake things would probably work well too. I've never tried them though. =)

 

[byrd1956]

I've done this w/pound cake & ladyfingers both. All the guests loved it! I was wondering about the angel food cake. Maybe if it is eaten right away the cake won't be so mushy or if the cake squares are bigger than 1x1.

 

[Shari in TX]

So maybe the bottom line is this is a great trifle no matter what cake you use!! Gotta love recipes like that. In fact, because of this thread, this is going to be our Fourth of July dessert on Wednesday. The strawberries around here are so delicious. I know my kids are going to be thrilled because usually the trifles I make are for shows, meetings or other stuff they aren't invited to. To give them a whole one of their very own will make me the best mom ever!

Shari in TX