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.  :)
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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 Farm, to 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 Club, Life As a Lofthouse, 4 Little Fergusons, The Country Cook, Meet Penny, The 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.