A Northwoods Trifle

Ingredients

• 1 egg , well beaten
• ½ C maple syrup
• ½ C milk (for cake)
• 2 T canola oil
• 1 C gold-n-white flour , sifted
• 2 t baking powder
• ½ t salt (for cake)
• 1 jar talmadge farms jam (I used wild blueberry)
• 2/3 C maple sugar
• 6 T cornstarch
• ¼ t salt (for custard)
• 5 C milk (for custard)
• 1-2 packages raspberries
• 1 C heavy cream , whipped, then sweetened with bit of maple sugar
• White Winter Winery Acer or Ceyser Mead (optional)
• walnuts , finely chopped (optional)

Instructions

1. C ombine egg, maple sugar, milk and oil. Sift dry ingredients together then add to egg mixture. Mix well. Turn batter into a greased 8" x 8" baking pan and bake at 375 degrees for 25–30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The cake will be slightly pale — this is normal.
2. Run a knife around the edge of the cake and turn out of the pan onto a cooling rack. Cool for 5–10 minutes until cake is cool enough to handle, but isn’t completely cooled. Cut into two layers. Spread jam between the layers. Replace the top layer and wrap tightly until cooled to room temperature.
3. While the cake is baking, make the custard. Mix maple sugar, cornstarch and salt. Gradually blend in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens (10–15 minutes). Cook for 2–3 minutes more. Pour into a bowl and place a piece of plastic wrap or waxed paper on the top to keep a skin from forming. Chill in the refrigerator.
4. When the cake has cooled to room temp and the custard has set, y ou are ready to assem- ble. If you have a glass bowl or dish to show off the layers, use one. Otherwise, any medium sized bowl will be fine.
5. Take the cake out of the w rapping and cut into 1” cubes. Take half of the cubes and place them ran- d omly (don’t be neat). This is the first layer in your bowl. Spoon one half of the custard over the top of the c ake/jam cubes, followed by one half of your raspberries. If you have left- o ver jam, you can put dollops of this in this layer as well. Repeat this proce- dure with the second half of your ingredients. Top with the whipped cream. It’s pretty if you whip it rather s tiffly and pipe it on in a decorative pattern, but you don’t have to get that fancy unless you want to impress someone. Cover and let it sit in the refrigerator for 3–24 hours
6. Optional deliciousness: before you put the custard layer on, sprinkle the cake/jam pieces with White Winter Winery Acer or Ceyser Mead. This replaces the Sherry you would normal- ly find in a traditional trifle. If you are lucky to have access to a walnut tree, a light sprinkling of chopped walnuts between the layers is also a nice addition.