FESTIVE FRUIT TRIFLE: YESTOTHEBEST WITH DEL MONTE

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Del Monte asked me if I could make something simple and fun for the Christmas table with some of their fruity delights.  As part of their YesToTheBest Family Favourite Challenge, they want to ensure that families aren’t missing out on enjoying ripe, tasty, vitamin packed fruits – which are so vital in the colder months – just because it’s tinned.  I had no idea that tinned fruit actually can contain more nutrients as it’s picked and canned when ripe and ready to be eaten – but I do know that I ate a lot of it when I was little at Christmas, and I loved it.

I don’t think there is ever a week when I don’t buy Del Monte fruits [and the squeezy fruit pouches, they even have Mickey Mouse of them] because my boys just love them.  Anyhow, for our fruity challenge I decided to make one of the simplest, fastest desserts for family time at Christmas – festive fruit trifle!

I love when I can make something out of things I have in my pantry instead of having to make a huge list of about 100 ingredients and head out for a shopping trip before I can get started.  This trifle is so easy – and perfect for little people to help with too!  Everyone helped out with this trifle – and the mister [Daddy] made it look pretty for us with some sugar swirls.  That bit took a little practise to get right, but those were simple once we got the hang of it – and so impressive!

So why trifle? Because it’s something that I associate with Boxing day.  I can’t remember ever having spent that day without a trifle when I was little.  Tinned fruit always meant Christmas for me – the most amazing mandarin flans with cream swirls made by my mom, and the fruit cocktail dessert bowl with pretty glass cups for serving.  All of our boys love tinned peaches – probably because it’s so hard in the UK to get tasty peaches the whole year through – and sometimes at all – and when they were weaning it was the best way to expose them to a variety of fruity flavours without putting them off by the often sour offerings in the supermarket aisles.

So, now you’ve raided your pantry, here’s how to make our YesToTheBest Festive Fruit Trifle.  It’s so simple, I promise.

Step 1: Dissolve the jelly in water and pour into your chosen trifle container.

Step 2: Add in the chopped fruit cocktail or other tinned fruit – pineapple is Hero’s favourite with strawberry jelly.

Step 3: Whilst the jelly cools and sets in the refrigerator, crumble up enough muffins to cover the surface of the jelly to around an inch deep.

Step 4: When the jelly is set, layer the muffin crumbs on top and press down with a spoon until it’s compact.

Step 5: Whip the cream and add a little caster sugar for sweetness if you like.  Be sure not to whip it too much [like I did the first time] because it’s so hard to pipe when it’s solid.

Step 6: Pipe the cream onto the muffin crumbs.  I used a large flower tip and did it like little cylinders, all stood next to each other, as you can see below. Then I did a layer on top too for height. 

Step 7: Decorate!  I used some Del Monte Peaches [all of my boys adore these] cut into slices and fanned over the top, chocolate sticks, and ground up some gingerbread biscuits for the topping to give it a Christmassy taste – and then the mister got all fancy and melted some sugar, wound it around a wooden spoon handle and made me some twirly sugar decorations – I had no idea it was so simple [but fiddly]!

So there it is, simple but delicious – and full of fruit! Say YesToTheBest with Del Monte!