Cranberry-Orange Trifle

A popular British dessert from Cooking Light Magazine. Posted for ZWT-8-Great Britain. The recipe says that you can prepare the cranberry portion and the pastry cream up to three days ahead. Then simply assemble and refrigerate the trifle up to 24 hours before you plan to serve it. Prep time does not include cooling time for custard.

• Ready In: 45 mins
• Serves: 12

Ingredients

• Cranberries

• 3⁄4 cup sugar
• 3⁄4 cup  fresh orange juice
• 1⁄4 cup Grand Marnier (or other orange liqueur)
• 1 (12 ounce) package fresh cranberries

• Pastry Cream

• 1⁄2 cup sugar
• 5  tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 1⁄2 cups 2% low-fat milk
• 2  large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2  teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1⁄8 teaspoon salt

• Remaining ingredients

• 1  loaf  cake (pound cake such as Sara Lee cut into 1/2 inch cubes)
• 1  teaspoon  orange rind

Directions

1. To prepare cranberries, combine 3/4 cup sugar, orange juice and Grand Marnier in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, cook 3 minutes or until sugar dissolves, stirring occasionally. Add cranberries to pan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer 8 minutes or until cranberries pop. Spoon mixture into a bowl; cover and chill.
2. To prepare pastry cream, combine 1/2 cup sugar and cornstarch in a medium, heavy saucepan over medium heat. Gradually add milk to pan, stirring with a whisk until blended; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Gradually add half of hot milk mixture to eggs, stirring constantly with a whisk. Return milk mixture to pan; cook over medium heat 1 minute or until thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and salt. Place pan in a large ice-filled bowl until custard cools to room temperature (about 25 minutes); stirring occasionally.
3. Arrange half of cake cubes in the bottom of a 2-quart trifle dish. Spoon 1 1/2 cups cranberry mixture over cake; top with 1 1/2 cups pastry cream. Repeat layers. Garnish with rind. Cover loosely with plastic wrap, and chill at least 4 hours.