Blueberry Lemon Tiramisu Trifle

This is another one of those I-know-someone-else-could-have-made-it-prettier-but-holy-moly-it-tasted-good desserts. I just have terrible hands. My dad is a surgeon, my sister can decorate cakes like you would not believe, but none of that came to me. Good thing for me at this point I have a reputation for stuff tasting good!

We had another couple over for dinner on Saturday–actually a friend and her new boyfriend–and so I made Thai Red Curry and I served this for dessert. It was of course monstrously huge (I knew it would be but I really wanted to use my trifle bowl, which my sister bought me for Christmas a year or 2 ago), but happily I can assure you that while the leftovers sink and get kind of lopsided looking, they remain incredibly tasty for at least 2 days–that’s how long it lasted before we polished it off. In light of this I do recommend serving it 4-6 hours after making it.

Blueberry Lemon Tiramisu Trifle
Inspired by and partially adapted from Luscious Lemon Desserts, Lori Longbotham

Blueberry Sauce
Adapted from Longbotham

6 pints blueberries, cleaned
juice of one lemon
zest of one lemon
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar–or to taste

Bring the first 3 ingredients to a simmer in a large sauce pan. Add 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar and taste. Because blueberries can vary in sweetness, continue to add the sugar and taste. You want a strong, sweet but also lemon-tart sauce. Remember it will be cut by the cream and the ladyfingers. Simmer for 10 minutes and set aside to cool. You will need a cool sauce to work with, so either do this part in advance or set it to cool in the fridge (I needed to).

Lemon Mascarpone Cream
Recipe by The Spiced Life

2 cups whipping cream
1/2 cup mascarpone
1/2 cup neufchatel, room temp
1/2 cup sour cream–low fat is fine
juice of half lemon
zest of 2 lemons
1/2 cup (aprox–start low and add to taste) powdered sugar
pinch of salt

Using the whip attachment (or handheld beaters), whip the cream until soft peaks form. The peaks should be almost–but not quite–stiff. Scrape the whipped cream out of the bowl and set aside in another bowl.

Using the beater attachment, beat the mascarpone and neufchatel until smooth and creamy. Add the sour cream, pinch of salt, lemon zest and juice, and 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar. Beat until creamy. Taste for sweetness–you want a cream that is quite sweet and lemony but not too tart. Remember it will be cut by the whipped cream. Add more sugar if necessary (I ended up at 1/2 cup).

Take 1/4 of the whipped cream and stir it into the mascarpone mixture. Then fold the rest of the whipped cream in, taking care to not deflate the whipped cream.

Assembling the Trifle

Additional Ingredients
1 pint blueberries, washed and dried
about 40 ladyfingers

Layer the bottom of your trifle bowl with ladyfingers (in a single layer). I was able to get about 9 in each layer–whatever fits best. Break them in half if need be. Scoop a few spoonfuls, about 1/4 of the sauce, of the cooled blueberry sauce over the ladyfingers, taking care to spread it evenly across the ladyfingers. Then scoop 1/4 of the cream layer out and spread it over the blueberry sauce, once again spreading evenly. Repeat this 3 more times, until you reach the top of your bowl. Then use the remaining cleaned and dried blueberries to line the edge of your bowl. I created more circles since I had enough–do whatever you want to make the top pretty with fresh blueberries. Place the trifle into the fridge to chill for 4 hours. Serve in cute glassware to disguise the fact that once scooped, the dessert is not nearly as pretty.

I recommend serving this trifle between 4 and 6 hours after making it. The leftovers tasted great, but each time we removed the trifle from the fridge the layers had sunk further, as the ladyfingers absorbed more of the sauce and cream, which had additionally deflated, thereby creating a sunken, lopsided look.