Thursday 8 November 2012

Individual Apple and Eggnog Trifles


We love a good cake at our house but there's this weird thing that always happens with the last piece:  Neither of us wants to claim it.  I think we're just being polite and leaving it for our loved one but, whatever the reason, that last piece often sits on the plate until it goes stale.  

It's kind of forlorn looking, that last piece of cake.  I once remarked to my husband that it reminded me of the orphan who stands unclaimed at the train station in some Victorian era novel.  My fella said that was an awful lot of drama to invest in a dessert, but somehow the name stuck.  That last piece of cake will be forever called "the orphan" at our house.

Since I have a thing about wasting food, rather than allowing it to waste away abandoned on the cake plate, I try to use "the orphan" to make a dessert that will feed the two of us.  These trifles are such a dessert, made from the last piece of my applesauce spice cake, a couple of apples I had in the fridge, and the eggnog my husband sneaked home while I was at work one day.

To make Individual Apple and Eggnog Trifles, I first made the apple filling.  I used:


  • 2 Gala apples, peeled and cut in a half-inch dice (about 2 cups)
  • 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1 Tablespoon Minit Tapioca

I stirred all of these ingredients together in a medium-sized non-stick saucepan.

I let the apple mixture rest for a while so that the sugar could draw some of the juice out of the apples.  

When there was some juice on the bottom of the pot, I heated the mixture over medium-low heat, stirring it occasionally to keep it from sticking, until it came to a boil and thickened.  The apples were cooked through but still had a bit of bite to them.  



I set the apple mixture aside to cool to room temperature, and then made the eggnog pudding.  

To make the pudding, I used:


  • 2 cups of ready made eggnog 
  • 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

I whisked these ingredients together in a small saucepan and then stirred them over medium-low heat until the pudding came to a boil and thickened.

As soon as the pudding thickened, I removed it from the heat.  

I covered the pudding with plastic wrap, making sure that the plastic was sitting right on the surface of the pudding (this prevents a skin from forming), and set the pudding aside to cool to room temperature.



Once both the apple filling and the pudding where cooled, I assembled the trifles.  

I removed the frosting from the cake and discarded it, then crumbled the cake into small-ish pieces.

I put a layer of crumbled cake into the bottom of each glass, then a layer of eggnog pudding.  I topped the pudding with a layer of apple filling, then added another layer of cake and another layer of pudding.  

The trifles needed to rest in the fridge for a couple of hours to chill completely.  The rest helped the pudding to set up more firmly and to blend the flavours.  

When I was ready to assemble the trifles, I whipped a cup of heavy cream together with a teaspoon of powdered sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla, until the whipped cream made stiff peaks.  



To finish the trifles, I put the whipping cream into a piping bag with a large star tip and piped it onto the top but if you don't have a piping bag, spooning the cream on top will work just fine too. 

As a final garnish, I grated a little nutmeg over the top of the whipped cream.  



Pretty, aren't they?  

They tasted really good too.  :)
_____________________________________


This post is linked to Gallery of Favorites hosted by Premeditated Leftovers and The 21st Century Housewife, to The Pity Party hosted by Thirty Handmade Days, to Foodie Friday hosted by Rattlebridge Farmto Foodie Friends Friday hosted by Tracy at Busy Vegetarian Mom, Robyn's View, Marlys at This and That, Lois at  Walking on Sunshine, Lindsey at Family Food Finds, Cindy at Cindys Recipes and Writings, Michelle at  From Calculus to Cupcakes, Cynthia at Feeding Big, Jodie at Binomial Baker, R Dawn at Spatulas on Parade, Angie at A lil Country Sugar, Erika at Chef Picky Kid, Amber at Mamas Blissful Bites, to Foodtastic Friday hosted by Not Your Ordinary Recipes, to Farm Girl Blog Fest hosted by Fresh Eggs Daily, to Strut Your Stuff Saturday hosted by Six Sisters' Stuff, to Nifty Thrifty Sunday hosted by Nifty Thrifty Things, to Weekend Potluck hosted by Sunflower Supper ClubLife As a Lofthouse4 Little FergusonsThe Country CookMeet PennyThe Better Baker, to Think Pink Sunday hosted by Flamingo Toes, to Your Great Ideas Saturday hosted by Or So She Says, to Sumptuous Sunday hosted by Addicted to Recipes, to A Marvelous Mess hosted by Marvelously Messy, to Craft-o-Maniac Monday hosted by Craft-o-Maniac, to Busy Monday hosted by A Pinch of Joy, to Manic Monday hosted by Bobbi's Cozy Kitchen, to Mix It Up Monday hosted by Flour Me With Love, to Delicious Dish Tuesday hosted by Mama Chocolate, Full Time Mama and Coping With Frugality, to Tuesday To Do hosted by The Blackberry Vine, to Cast Party Wednesday hosted by Lady Behind the Curtain, to Whatcha' Whipped Up hosted by DJ's Sugar Shack, to Look What I Made hosted by Creations by Kara, to Wonderful Wednesday hosted by Printabelle, to Thursday's Treasures hosted by Recipes for My Boys, to Tastetastic Thursday hosted by A Little Nosh, to Full Plate Thursday hosted by Miz Helen's Country Cottage, and to Foodie Friday hosted by Simple Living and Eating.


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42 comments:

Nikita said...

Now that looks delicious and easy to make.

Aunt B said...

I'm glad you like it. Thanks for stopping by Nikita

Jen @ Jens Favorite Cookies said...

Holy cow, what a great idea! Love this! Especially the simple eggnog pudding. Gorgeous!

Aunt B said...

Thanks Jen. :) The pudding was really tasty. I hope you give it a try.

Alea @ Premeditated Leftovers said...

At are house, nobody wants to eat the last piece of cake or brownie either. They save it for somebody else and if I am not careful, it can end up wasted. Your solution is brilliant and delicious!

Aunt B said...

Glad to know I'm not alone in this Alea, and pleased that you like the recipe. :)

Unknown said...

This looks delicious..........and I have all the ingredients in the house!! Looks like I'll be making this tomorrow!!
Connie from Sadieloohoo

Aunt B said...

I'm glad you're going to give it a try Connie. Thanks so much for stopping by to check out the recipe.

Unknown said...

I love, love egg nog! This is a bookmark for sure...thank you!

Aunt B said...

We love egg nog at our house too Courtney. :) Thank you for stopping by to check out the recipe.

Lois Christensen said...

Apples and egg nog? Looks so delicious! Thanks for sharing on Foodie Friends Friday! Please come back on Sunday to VOTE!

Winnie said...

These look super delicious
So tempting :)

Aunt B said...

Thanks Winnie. :)

Unknown said...

These are so wonderful looking and I bet they taste great. I love the name "orphan" for your last piece of cake.

I will have to give this a try when my daughter comes home for a college break. She loves eggnog and apples!

thank you for sharing on Foodie Friends Friday.
I am now following you and I am off to pin this wonderful creation!

Aunt B said...

Thank you for joining the conversation here, Cynthia, and for hosting Foodie Friends Friday. I find lots of inspiration there. I appreciate you pinning my recipe forward too. :)

Aunt B said...

I'm glad you like them. Thanks for hosting. I appreciate the opportunity to share the recipe.

Unknown said...

Just wanted to let you know that I put your photo on facebook and it has been re-posted 14 times since yesterday! I think this deliciousness has gone viral!
Cynthia at http://FeedingBig.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

What an amazing idea! This dessert will certainly be making appearance at our home in December :)

Aunt B said...

Wow! Thanks Cynthia! You just never know what will catch peoples' fancy. :)

Aunt B said...

Thanks Nicky. I'm glad that you like it. Thanks for stopping by to check it out.

Mariel said...

I would love for you to share this (or any of your other great ideas) at the link party going on through tomorrow night at ‘Or so she says …’ Hope to see you there! www.oneshetwoshe.com

Aunt B said...

Thank you for the invitation Mariel. Now linked. I see some great stuff there. :)

April @ The 21st Century Housewife said...

Your apple and eggnog trifles look wonderful! I love how you have made pudding out of the eggnog, and the combination of flavours with the apples sounds terrific. This is a lovely recipe, and such a frugal one too!

Aunt B said...

Thanks April, and thanks for hosting. I appreciate the opportunity to share my recipe.

Diane Balch said...

So true about the last piece of cake...LOL. I love your trifle a great opportunity to use egg nog in a dessert... so cool. Thanks for sharing it on foodie friday.

Aunt B said...

Thanks Diane. I appreciate you providing the opportunity to share my recipe and stopping by to check it out.

Unknown said...

This sounds wonderful! Thank you for sharing on Thursday's Treasures. See you soon! <3 and hugs!

Adelina Priddis said...

These look so yummy! Thanks for sharing on Foodie Friday - I'll be featuring you at this week's party

Aunt B said...

Thanks Debi. I'm glad you like it. Thanks for hosting. I found some great links at the party.

Aunt B said...

Wow! Thank you Adelina! I appreciate the feature. :) I'll be checking out the party tomorrow and linking something new.

Miz Helen said...

Wishing you and your family a very Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving. Thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday and hope to see you soon!
Miz Helen

Aunt B said...

Thanks Miz Helen. :) Our Thanksgiving here in Canada is in October and we had a lovely time. I hope your holiday is wonderful too.

Oishii Treats said...

What an amazing combo! this dessert looks delicious can't wait to try it out :) thanks for sharing

Charlene@APinchofJoy said...

Great idea -- not only do we have orphan cake but there's always that last little bit of eggnog that hangs out in the fridge! Thanks so much for sharing on Busy Monday!

Aunt B said...

I'm glad you like it. Thanks for stopping by to check it out. :)

Aunt B said...

I'm really glad you like them. I'll stop by the blog party later today.

Aunt B said...

I'm glad you like it Charlene. Thanks for hosting. I found lots of great recipes this week.

Printabelle said...

They look gorgeous! And scrumptious, what a great way to use the orphan! Very creative.

Alesha @ Full Time Mama said...

Wow, that sounds good, and LOVE your presentation! Gorgeous!
Thank you for another awesome recipe!!

Aunt B said...

Thank you! And thanks for hosting. I appreciate the opportunity to share my recipes.

Aunt B said...

Thanks Alesha. I'm glad you like it. Thanks for the opportunity to participate in your linky parties.

Aunt B said...

Thank you for the invitation Kathy. I'll stop by soon.