.Recipe of the week.

Cheyenne's company picnic is this Friday and he made the mistake of telling me that guests are encouraged to bring dessert and that there will be a prize awarded to the best one {decided by a panel of 5 engineers who know everything about television editing but nothing about food}. Please now imagine me sitting criss-cross applesauce surrounded by hundreds of loose leaf recipes and cookbooks and two laptops and food magazines mumbling to myself like a psychopath.
I had it narrowed down to 4 recipes {tres leches cake, creme brulee bars, nutella tiramisu cupcakes, and s'mores cupcakes} and was leaning toward bringing 2 desserts so as to show off that much more. I was pretty sure that I would take a tres leches cake because it's so delicious and simple and also taking the nutella tiramisu cupcakes because they're delicious as well and I couldn't decide between the two.
Now we come to this morning where a new contender enters the ring. Every day I drink a cup of tea {yerba mate on Mondays} and read through the 2 dozen or so blogs that I subscribe to. It's no surprise the the a-mazing Amy Atlas is one of the very first sites that I visit first thing. Also of note: I love trifles. They are always delicious and they always looks so pretty and like you went to a lot of work when they are actually super easy. Also, as I have noted in the past, I love the old Creamsicle ice cream bars. Yum. So of course, on this Monday morning with my tea in hand the trifecta should hit: Amy Atlas has posted a recipe for a Creamsicle trifle. Swoon! So now im thinking of maybe taking this to the picnic but I think three recipes is overkill. hmmm. choices choices. In the meantime give this recipe a try - I bet it tastes like a summertime childhood memory!

Creamsicle Trifle

Ingredients:
for the trifle -
16 lady fingers (split in two bowls)
6-8 tablespoons of Grand Marnier liqueur
½ gallon Orange Sherbet
½ gallon Vanilla Ice Cream

for the whipped cream -
For the whipped cream, you’ll simply need…2 cups heavy cream, 2 tablespoons sugar, and 3 teaspoons vanilla.

Directions:
1. Break ladyfingers into thirds. Put the pieces into two separate bowls. Sprinkle 3-4 tablespoons Grand Marnier over the first bowl of ladyfingers (if you would like to use less liqueur, mix 3 tablespoons Grand Marnier with 1 tablespoons water). Briefly mix with a spoon, then let the ladyfingers sit and soak in the liquor, until ladyfingers are soft. Repeat when you are ready for the second layer.

2. Spread a 1” layer of orange sherbet on the bottom of the trifle dish {we used a 7 inch diameter trifle dish}. Smooth the edges with a spatula, dipped in warm water.

3. Make a layer of ladyfingers. Position the ladyfingers around the edge of the trifle dish first. Then fill in the center with the remaining ladyfingers.

4. Put the trifle dish in the freezer for 10 minutes to firm up the sherbet.

5. Spread a 1” layer of vanilla ice cream over the ladyfingers.

6. Make a second layer of ladyfingers on top of the vanilla ice cream.

7. Put the trifle dish in the freezer for 10 minutes to firm up the ice cream.

8. Spread a 1″ layer of orange sherbet on the top of the trifle. Place the dish back in the freezer.

9. Combine the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of a standing mixer. Beat with the whisk attachment until the cream is whipped and fluffy, but holds its shape.

10. Spread the whipped cream on top of the trifle and garnish as you wish.