Red Velvet Trifles

Indulge in the southern tradition of red velvet cake with a twist – Red Velvet Trifles! Assemble them ahead of time for hassle-free hosting during the busy holiday season.

The holiday season can be a whirlwind of activities, and having make-ahead desserts in your repertoire is a real time-saver. After many years of hosting during the Christmas season, I’ve learned to depend upon prep-ahead recipes, such as these Red Velvet Trifles. They are so pretty! And they’ll add a splash of Christmas color to your special holiday feast. Prepare them a couple of days ahead and store them in the refrigerator until you’re ready to serve. Simply add the garnishes a few hours before serving, and you’ll have a show-stopping dessert without the last-minute stress.

Plan ahead.

Before you get started mixing up the cake batter, here’s a couple of initial things to get in order to make the entire process smooth sailing.

• Choose your serving glasses. These Red Velvet Trifles are assembled in 8 clear 12 oz. rocks glasses (or other dessert glasses). I’m usually all about breaking out the finest tableware for Christmas, but I made these in plastic recyclable . Each glass is made from 1 recycled plastic bottle. I’ve reused them loads of times, and have yet to toss them!
• Make room in your fridge. I don’t know about you, but my refrigerator during the holidays – oof! Space gets maxed out pretty quickly. Make sure you have enough space to store the trifles before you begin the recipe. It may help to put the serving glasses on a baking sheet so it’s easy to transfer to the fridge once all the glasses are assembled.

Make the Red Velvet Cake.

Now – the cake! Start by mixing up the wet ingredients in a large mixing bowl. It’s not a big job, so this can easily be done using a hand mixer. Add 2 tablespoons of liquid red food color at this stage. If you only have red gel food color, add much less – 1 1/2 to 2 teaspoons should do it.

Sift in the dry ingredients: flour, unsweet cocoa powder, and leavening. Mix together on low speed. Again, a hand mixer is fine. It’s a quick bowl of batter that stirs up easily. I appreciate that!

Bake the Red Velvet Cake.

Spread the batter into a greased 13×9 inch pan, and bake for about 20 minutes at 350°F. Be careful not to over bake this cake, as the edges can get a little dry. If this happens, go ahead and trim off the crusty edges.

When the cake cools cut it into bite-size pieces with a large chef’s knife. You’ll notice the texture is dense like pound cake. This is by design, as the cake needs to be sturdy enough to absorb the raspberry rum drizzling syrup without falling apart. Yes – I said raspberry-rum drizzling syrup! More on that in a bit.

Make the Cream Cheese Filling.

This filling is so easy! It’s a simple mixture of cream cheese, whipped cream, sugar, and vanilla extract. However, it does require careful folding. Use a large rubber spatula to fold whipped cream into the sweet cream cheese mixture. It’s so delicious, and a nod to the classic red velvet layer cake with cream cheese frosting.

Assemble the Trifles.

Begin assembling the cake trifles in your 12 oz. rocks or dessert glasses. Place a layer of red velvet cake cubes at the bottom of each glass.

Rum-Raspberry Drizzle.

Something that pastry chefs know, that not all home bakers know, is that sweet, rich desserts like this one can benefit from a tart foil. The acid, or tartness form berries and fruit creates balance to an otherwise too sweet dessert. In this recipe, it’s the rum-raspberry drizzle. It’s a pleasant surprise flavor when you taste it in this dessert. And just the thing to give it balance. Stir together your favorite brand of prepared seedless raspberry jam, rum, and a little orange juice in a small bowl. Spoon a tablespoon of this mixture over the red velvet cake cubes.

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Pipe or dollop the cream filling evenly over the cubes. The mixture pipes beautifully, so I like using a large closed star piping tip (Ateco #849) for a ruffled appearance through the glass.. Although, just dolloping it in looks fine too.

Repeat the entire process using more of the cake cubes and raspberry-rum mixture. Finish with a big swirl (or dollop) of the cream cheese mixture on top.

You’ll have some red velvet cake cubes left over, so crumble them with your fingers into a bowl. Then sprinkle them over each trifle for an easy topping.

Tips for Success.

• Don’t overbake: I mentioned this earlier, but it warrants repeating. This cake is like the pound cake version of red velvet, designed to stand up (and absorb) the rum drizzle. Baking it too long can yield a dry cake with crusty edges.
• Trim any tough cake edges: After testing this cake a couple of times, I found using a light aluminum pan helped to avoid tough edges. However, use whatever pan you have. And if you get some crust edges, just trim them away. These trifles should contain only the soft cubes of cake for the optimal eating pleasure.
• Fold the filling carefully: Whipped cream is folded into sweet, whipped cream cheese for a cloud-like filling. So, take your time when folding the two together. Otherwise you could knock too much air out of it and it could become runny.
• Variation: If you have more than 8 people to serve, consider assembling the components in smaller glasses. The 12 oz. rocks glasses called for make a hearty serving indeed. You could easily use 6 oz. glasses and double your yield!

Red Velvet Cake – A Southern Tradition.

, with its deep crimson hue and rich, velvety texture, is rooted in Southern tradition but is loved the world over. As a born and bred southern girl, I’ve tried almost every iteration. From to and everything in between. I’ve always thought the vibrant color makes it ideal for the Christmas holidays. Now I especially love it as an elegant little dessert trifle that will stand out on your dessert buffet.

These individual Red Velvet Rum Trifles are not just pretty to look at, they’re rich, creamy and a little punchy with tart rum-raspberry syrup. I think they actually improve after a day in the refrigerator, because the flavors have a chance to marry, and the syrup absorbs into the cake cubes making them moist and flavorful.

Happy hosting!

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