Holiday Trifle, Paleo Style

This fabulous take on a holiday classic is actually relatively low-sugar (less than a cup in the whole thing!)

My idea for this recipe started as I started thinking about Christmas dinner this year (and started to fret about dessert).  I had to find something that could compete with my family’s traditional Christmas dessert (a cake made of whipped cream and chocolate wafer cookies).  I needed to create something exceptionally yummy but also beautiful.  And I wanted to stay away from even the gray-area foods… well, except rum, but what is Christmas dessert without some rum?! Speaking of rum, I have included instructions for a family-friendly option, where you flame the alcohol out of the rum.  You could also omit it altogether, or use some watered down rum extract as an option.

So without further ado, may I present my Holiday Trifle:  exquisitely yummy, gorgeous to look at, serves 10-12 (and it tastes even better the second day after all the flavors start to blend together!).

So, you just scrolled down and noticed that there are a lot of steps.  Don’t be intimidated:  none of the steps are particularly tricky and, even though it takes time to make, a lot of it is spent waiting for things to cool.  I suggest doing the jellyroll and jellyroll filling the day before you plan to serve it.

Prep Time: 30-45 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients (jellyroll filling):

• 1 ½ cup frozen organic strawberries
• 1 ½ cup fresh or frozen organic mango

1.    Place berries and mango pieces in a saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat.
2.    Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes, until juices are thick and mango is very soft.
3.    Blend with an immersion blender or food processor until smooth.
4.    Cool completely before spreading on cake.

Ingredients (jellyroll cake):

• 8 large eggs, separated
• 2/3 cup sugar/sucanat, divided
• 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
• ¼ cup coconut flour, sifted
• ½ cup blanched almond flour
• 1 cup jellyroll filling (see above)

1.    Prepare a 12”x18” rimmed baking sheet by lining with wax paper and heavily greasing the wax paper with extra virgin coconut oil.  Preheat oven to 350F.
2.    In the large bowl of a standing mixer, beat egg whites until soft peaks form.  Add 1/3 cup sugar gradually and continue to mix until stiff peaks form.
3.    In a separate, small bowl, beat egg yolks with the remaining 1/3 cup sugar and vanilla until thick.  Whisk in coconut and almond flour.
4.    Fold yolk mixture into egg mixture, being careful not to lose too much volume, until incorporated.
5.    Spread batter out onto prepared baking sheet.  Take the time to spread the surface evenly and into the corners.
6.    Bake for 16-17 minutes, until top is just starting to turn golden brown.  Meanwhile, lay out a piece of parchment paper (roughly the size of your baking sheet), cover with a large tea towel and another layer of parchment paper.
7.    Remove cake from oven and immediately invert over parchment.  Carefully peel off the wax paper.  Starting from one of the shorter sides, roll the cake up in the parchment/tea towel.  Let the rolled-up cake fully cool on a wire rack.
8.    Once completely cooled, gently unroll the cake.  Remove the parchment and tea towel. Spread the top side evenly with the cooled jellyroll filling.  Roll the cake back up.
9.    Wrap up the jellyroll in parchment or wax paper and refrigerate, seam side down, until ready to assemble the trifle (at least 1 hour, or overnight).

Ingredients (Coconut Custard):

• 1 can full fat coconut milk
• 3 large  eggs, well beaten
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 Madagascar vanilla bean
• 2 ½ Tbsp  honey

1.    Split vanilla bean down the middle and place in a saucepan. Add coconut milk and bay leaves.
2.    Heat coconut milk slowly over low heat until very steamy and just shy of simmering.
3.    Add a ladle of the hot coconut milk to the beaten eggs while stirring the eggs vigorously.  Then add the egg mixture back to the saucepan, stirring constantly.
4.    Continue to stir constantly until custard thickens (should coat a wooden spoon), about 4-5 minutes.
5.    Remove from heat.  Remove bay leaves and discard.  Remove vanilla bean halves, scrape the inside of the vanilla beans with a sharp knife to collect the vanilla seeds and add back into the custard.  Discard the vanilla bean pod.
6.    Once cooled, add honey and mix well.
7.    Refrigerate until cold before assembling the trifle.

Ingredients (the trifle):

• Jellyroll
• Custard
• 1/3 cup good quality dark rum (for family-friendly option, flame ¾ cups rum)
• 3 cups fresh berries, plus more to garnish (I used strawberries and blueberries)
• Fresh mint, for garnish (optional)

1.    Slice the jellyroll into ¾” slices (so you see the lovely spiral of the fruit filling).
2.    Line a glass bowl with the jellyroll slices.  For a really nice presentation, you might want to cut a few jellyroll slices in half for the bottom to help prop the other slices up on the sides.  Place any extra cake in the bottom of the bowl.
3.    Carefully drizzle each piece of cake with rum.  (For family-friendly option:  heat ¾ cup good quality dark rum in a wide-bottomed saucepan or skillet on the stove on low heat.  When it starts to steam, remove to a well-ventillated area (like outside!) and carefully light it on fire (use a barbecue lighter, extra-long match/taper, or kitchen blowtorch).  Let it burn, swirling the pan gently every once in a while, until the flames go out by themselves.  You should be left with about 1/3 cup of lovely very low-alcohol rum.  Let it cool before drizzling on the cake.)
4.    Fill the inside of the bowl with the fruit (slice any bigger berries, if needed)
5.    Poor the cooled custard over the fruit in the middle of the bowl.  Place some extra fruit on the top for a garnish.  Garnish with mint leaves, if using.
Do you need help finding any ingredients?  Check out  Important Pantry Items for the Paleo Baker.