Not So Tipsy Lard Trifle

Airy Genoise Sponge Cake (Courtesy of The Spruce Eats)

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray one or two 9-inch cake pans with baking spray and dust the bottom and sides with flour, tapping out any excess. Line the bottom(s) with a circle of parchment paper cut to fit the pan. Bring a saucepan of water to a boil on the stovetop, then lower it to a simmer.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the eggs and stir in the sugar and vanilla until blended.
3. Set the bowl over the saucepan to form a double boiler so that the bottom of the bowl is inside the pan but not touching the water. Stir the egg and sugar mixture over the pot until the mixture is warm, or about 3 to 4 minutes.
4. Place the warm mixture into a stand mixer bowl and beat with the whip attachment for 10 to 15 minutes or until the mixture is thick and light. If using a hand mixer, beat for 2 to 3 additional minutes. The eggs will triple in volume and change from yellow to nearly white in color. When you lift the whisk from the mixture, the batter should fall from it in a ribbon-like line and stay on top of the batter for a few seconds before sinking into it.
5. Carefully fold in the flour, then fold in the melted butter. Don’t over-mix.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan or pans immediately and transfer them to the oven. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, or with a crumb or two attached. Test after 20 minutes.
7. Cool the cakes for 10 minutes in the pans on a wire rack. Loosen the edges by running a knife along the sides, turn the cakes out onto the racks, and cool for at least another 45 minutes.

Almond Custard

1. Have egg yolks ready in a bowl, and set aside where it will be within reach.
2. Using a whisk, combine milk, sugar, almond, and vanilla extract in a medium saucepan over medium heat on the stovetop. Allow milk to scald (heat to the point when tiny bubbles form around the edges of the pan). Whisk occasionally to prevent the cornstarch from clumping on the bottom edges of the pan.
3. Remove the milk mixture from the heat, preferably to a burner that’s turned off.
4. Mix about 2 tablespoons of the scalded milk mixture into the yolks eggs using a whisk, then introduce eggs into the milk mixture in a slow stream, whisking milk mixture constantly.
5. Immediately return pan to heat and whisk gently until custard thickens, another two or three minutes. Do not allow to boil.
6. Remove pan from heat and stir in vanilla
7. Pass it through a fine-mesh sieve into a different bowl to remove any egg-white strands or lumps in the custard.
8. Once done, cover with plastic wrap (make sure the plastic wrap is touching the custard to ensure that no skin is formed onto the custard (Let sit for at least 2 hrs, but longer is better).

Clementine and Cinnamon Simple Syrup

1. In a small saucepan, whisk the sugar and water over medium heat.
2. Continue whisking until sugar is dissolved and the liquid comes to a simmer.
3. Take off the heat, and let it cool.
4. Pour into a glass jar and seal tightly with a lid, *See note 2 for Storage details.

Trifle Itself

1. Line the bottom of a large glass dish or individual glasses with the already cut thick cake slices. If you are using one large bowl use all the cake in one layer (this is what I could do).
2. Brush simple syrup onto the cake.
3. Reserve a few of the fresh raspberries for decoration, then layer the remainder evenly over the cake slices. Again, in the large trifle, one thick layer is good.
4. pour the 6 Tablespoons of simple syrup all over the raspberry layer.
5. Pour the almond (Or the ready-made) custard, in another nice thick layer over the raspberries.
6. Finish with a thick layer of whipped cream, either spooned over or piped using a piping bag (if you wanted to get fancy, I dumped and spread). If you’ve never made whipped cream before, check out How to Make Whipped Cream from Scratch. I go over every detail of how to make whipped cream and the 3 different stages your whipped cream can look like.
7. Finish the tipsy laird by decorating with the reserved raspberries and a few toasted, flaked, almonds.