Dulce de Leche, Cream and Strawberry Trifle

This strawberry trifle – with dulce de leche and cream – is this close to dethroning one of my favorite desserts ever: my version of eton mess, which I also make with gooey dulce de leche.

If there’s a dessert for a crowd that’s easy to put together, that is trifle.

This one has a cake made from scratch of course, but a good bakery pound cake is an alternative. The rest is prepping really.

Whip up some unsweetened cream (or barely sweetened, remember the milk jam), have ready fresh strawberries cut into small chunks, a jar of dulce de leche – or caramel, it works well too -, a nice glass bowl or individual jars (these ones here are from yogurt, and I have to confess I buy them more for the jars than for the yogurt…), and you’re set.

A dessert that comes together quickly and lets you enjoy the day, with family, friends or whatever.

Strawberry trifle is one of my favorites.

If you never tried it with dulce de leche (or caramel, which is more easily available), you should. There’s something about the tangy but sweet strawberries, the gooey sweetness of the milk jam, and the silky cream that is out of this world. A bite of dessert paradise.

The cake that I used here is an olive oil vanilla cake, a fantastic recipe from Bouchon, the cookbook from Thomas Keller. Which is no surprise, since he is a master cook and baker. But still, I’m amazed at this cake, the texture is perfect for a trifle, or to serve in individual slices with cream, strawberries and dulce de leche on top, or a drizzle of caramel.

The cake is quite simple, sort of a genoise with olive oil instead of the mandatory melted butter. The result is a great crumb, not so spongy, more firm and grainy. And it lasts for many days in the fridge, especially if making a dessert like this strawberry trifle. I am not surprised, since the first citrus olive oil cake some years ago turned out with a great texture too.

They keep well for a day or two in the fridge, different texture, but still great.

The strawberries will have somewhat dissolved the cream and sugar, and the cake will be integrated into the rest of the ingredients. Truly wonderful. Every single spoonful of delicious.

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Dulce de Leche, Cream and Strawberry Trifle

The cake makes enough for double the recipe here.

The quantities when assembling the trifle can be varied depending on your taste; make it with more fruit or more cream or whatever proportions you like. If making a large trifle use all of the cake and double (or more) the rest of the ingredients.

Servings: 6 servings

Ingredients

For the olive oil cake:

• 1 cup 130g all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg room tº
• 3/4 cup 150g sugar
• 1/2 cup 115ml whole milk, room tº
• 1/3 cup 80ml olive oil

To assemble the trifles:

• 1/4 pound 1/2 kg fresh strawberries, rinsed and cut into small chunks
• 2 Tbs. powdered sugar
• 3/4 cup 200g, cold
• 2 Tbs. cream cheese cold
• 1 cup 300g dulce de leche

Instructions

For the olive oil cake:

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF / 180ºC.
2. Butter or spray a 9x4inch loaf pan, or similar and line the bottom and two sides with parchment paper.
3. In a large bowl start beating egg while adding sugar slowly. Beat for 4-5 minutes, until very foamy and light in color.
4. Add half the flour, baking powder and salt (all sifted, I do it directly over the batter) and mix lightly.
5. Add half olive oil and milk and mix a bit.
6. Repeat with rest of dry ingredients and wet ingredients, mixing until no dry streaks remain, but not too much. We want to keep air in the batter.
7. Pour into the pan and bake for 30 minutes, or until a tester comes out dry.
8. Let cool completely on a wire rack before using.
9. You can wrap it well in film and keep for a few days in the fridge.

To assemble the trifles:

1. Use a large glass serving bowl or individual jars.
2. Put strawberry chunks in a bowl with the powdered sugar, mix a bit and let rest while you prepare the rest.
3. Beat cream with cream cheese until beginning to make soft peaks. It should be a bit firm, but careful not to beat it too much.
4. Now make the layers. I build it with a layer of cake, one of cream, a large dollop of dulce de leche and some strawberries. Repeat if you like. Decorate with half a strawberry.
5. Keep refrigerated until serving time.