Last night I made a traditional "Sunday Gravy" with meatballs over pasta. I also plucked baby greens, lettuce, radish and carrots from the garden and made a delightful garden salad. Just as we were about to sit down to eat, the door bell rang and lo and behold there was our good friend Knute standing upon the step. I being Italian and Irish always prepare a feast large enough to feed 10 extra people that never seem to materialize so we invited him in to help us eat all the food I had prepared. He is no longer with Monica and has since moved on to "greener" pastures, but I digress.
Needless to say, we had a great time. The kids were delighted to see him and wrapped their arms around him for a big hug. After the table was cleared, I made a fresh pot of good coffee and brought out the pièce de résistance of the meal. Earlier in the day I had picked a bunch of strawberries and some Meyer Lemons from my garden and wanted to highlight them in a cool refreshing dessert. Here's what I came up with. It's a very easy to make, especially if you use store bought angle food cake.
Rae's Strawberry Mascarpone Trifle16 oz. Mascarpone
2 quarts fresh ripe strawberries
1 pint heavy cream
1 angle food cake (I made mine but you can buy one to save time)
2 meyer or Eureka lemons
2/3 cup of sugar
First off, make a Meyer Lemon simple syrup by juicing both lemons along with 2 tablespoons of water in to a small heavy sauce pan. Add 1/3 cup sugar and and the zest of one lemon. Simmer gently until the mixture is reduced by half. Strain and cool. Meanwhile, cut the angle food cake in to 1" cubes. Slice and macerate the strawberries in the remaining 1/3 cup sugar. Once the syrup is cooled, place the mascarpone in to the bowl of a mixer or use a hand held mixer. Add half of the simple syrup to the mascarpone and blend until light an fluffy.
To assemble, place one layer of the cake on the bottom of a bowl or trifle dish, brush with lemon simple syrup. Spread 1/3 of the lemon mascarpone over the cubes and top with 1/3 of the strawberries. Don't worry about draining the juice, just add it all in. Repeat the layers and top with fresh whipped cream. Chill the trifle for at least one hour. I garnished mine with a dainty pink floret of Lemon Geranium.
Serves 8.
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Lets start from the top. This is my own recipe for fresh raspberry ice cream. The trick to this recipe besides using fresh raspberries, is adding 1/2 cup buttermilk to the heavy cream. It adds tang and an element of complexity. Further down are two pots, one containing red chili con carne the other is full of pinto beans. This has been cooking for upwards of 6 hours now on low hear. These will be served at a Memorial Day party tomorrow. The beans and the chili will gain flavor and benefit from sitting over night. 
