The Yum Yum Factor

It's summer. It's a bazillion degrees out there, you are invited to a BBQ and BAM! You are asked if you could bring dessert. If it were just your own family, you would throw a fiver at them and tell them to run to the store and bring back a bag of Mr Freezies but that isn't going to cut it. There is no way you are turning on the oven, so baking anything is immediately out. You could do an ice cream thing but you would have had to start planning that yesterday and you have to transport it without it melting all over the place. You could stop at the store and pick something up on the way to the party, which is actually a perfectly acceptable option but I have a job to do here, so, for today, that is out too. That leaves a trifle. Sure, you can make all of the elements yourself if you want, but why would you want to do that in this heat? Trifle requires no special skills, no craftiness and it is almost impossible to mess up but it looks like you took tons of time...

Could someone please tell me why have I spent my entire life NOT making trifles? I think I had trifle once about a hundred years ago when I was 18 or 19. My own mother never made anything like it. She was more of a jello 1-2-3 kind of gal when she wasn't making pies, but I do have a fuzzy memory of eating it at a boyfriend's house. It must not have left much of an impression since I waited another hundred years to actually make one myself, although I do have very fond memories of jello 1-2-3.          I have a friend who makes all of these little desserts in jars whenever she hosts a party and there is almost always some sort of trifle along with something cheesecakey and something chocolately and this must be what sparked my interest. My Christmas  Rum and Eggnog Tres Leches Trifle  was everything I love about a dessert. It was delicious, although time consuming it was easy to make and, most important of all, it looked super impressive. I h...

For the last couple of years, I have been in charge of making dessert for The Neighbour's annual Xmas dinner. They throw a big dinner party for out of town friends and their in town sister with other people added to the guest list each year. We are fortunate enough to be included because it is always an impressive feast and tons of fun. Every guest gets a stocking filled with homemade cookies and a beautiful, hand painted ornament. Last year I made two desserts because it is always a crowd of at least 11 or 12 people but they were both a lot of work and both required slicing and plating and felt too formal for this type of gathering.  This year I wanted to make one dessert that would be substantial enough to feed a big crowd, easy to serve and not require pretty plating. Since this is basically three desserts in one, big bowl and requires nothing more than a big spoon and a shallow bowl, it fit the bill. At first, I was going to just make my Rum and Eggnog Tres Leche...