She Strengthens

A Festive and Delicious Dessert to Impress Your Guests

Imagine a stunning dessert that’s both easy to make and visually appealing. Layers of moist pound cake, rich port-steeped prunes, creamy mascarpone whipped cream, and crunchy toasted almonds come together in a beautiful glass trifle bowl to create a show-stopping treat.

Special Equipment Needed

To make this dessert, you’ll need a 3-quart (approximately 8-inch in diameter) trifle dish. If you don’t have one, don’t worry! You can use any 3-quart dish or even prepare individual servings by layering the ingredients on a plate.

Game Plan

To make this dessert stress-free, prepare the prunes up to a week in advance. You can also bake the pound cake a day ahead of time. On the day of serving, whip up the mascarpone cream and refrigerate until ready to use. Just before serving, assemble the layers in your trifle dish.

Alternative Cake Options

If you don’t have the time or ingredients to make a pound cake from scratch, you can use store-bought cake or ladyfingers as a substitute. Sponge cake or chiffon cake also work beautifully in this recipe.

Yields and Difficulty Level

This recipe yields 8 servings and is considered easy to make. The total preparation and cooking time is approximately 2 hours, plus cake baking and cooling time.

Ingredients

For the prunes:

• 60 pitted prunes (about 18 ounces)
• 2 1/4 cups dry red wine
• 1 1/2 cups tawny port
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 (3-inch) cinnamon sticks
• 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped, seeds and pod reserved
• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt

To assemble:

• 1 1/2 cups cold heavy cream
• 1 cup mascarpone cheese
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• Finely grated zest of 1 medium lemon
• 1 Amaretto Pound Cake (made with cake flour if possible, and without the glaze or almonds)
• 3/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Instructions

Step 1: Prepare the Prunes

Combine all ingredients in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the liquid is syrupy and reduced by almost half, about 45 minutes. Let cool for at least 1 hour. Discard the cinnamon sticks and vanilla pod.

Step 2: Assemble the Dessert

Whisk the cream and mascarpone in a stand mixer until just incorporated. Increase the speed and add the sugar and lemon zest. Whisk until soft peaks form, about 2 minutes. Drain the cooled prunes through a colander, gently stirring to let the syrup drain through. Roughly chop the prunes in batches and return them to the bowl of syrup.

Step 3: Layer the Dessert

Thinly slice off the pound cake ends and discard. Cut the remaining cake into 8 slices. Lay 4 slices flat in the trifle dish, trimming them as needed to fit the dish. Pour half of the prunes and syrup over the cake, followed by half of the whipped cream and half of the almonds. Repeat the layers, finishing with a layer of whipped cream and almonds on top. Serve immediately and enjoy!