Strawberry Vanilla Macaron Trifle
BAKING,  COOKIES,  DESSERTS,  DESSERTS with JELLY,  TRIFLES

Strawberry and Vanilla Macaron Trifle … Joyeux Noel!

2010/12/26 / 63 Comments
Strawberry Vanilla Macaron Trifle

Joyeux Noel, Feliz Navidad, Bo Nada …or Merry Christmas! I’m beginning to get notorious with temptation. Things that draw me a point of no return are colour, texture, visual appeal … all magical in my eyes! Of course I’m talking food porn and all these beautiful food blogs are awash with sensational stuff these days. One such post I saw a short while ago was this Strawberry & Vanilla Macaron Trifle at Trissilicious, the very talented and sweet food blogger from Down Under. One look and I was sold. The dessert had me hypnotized. I HAD TO MAKE IT!

Strawberry Vanilla Macaron Trifle

It had MAGIC in it, a combination of some of my favourite things. Tell me dear readers, does this happen to you too?

I knew this was going to be constructed in my kitchen within the next few days, so great was the temptation. Strawberries √, Macarons – find feet {had to}, Vanilla bean √, Cranberry juice √. Intriguingly enough, winter in North India spells season 2 of strawberries in the year. We get a bounty in the summer months, and then again come January, we see fresh juicy red strawberries entering the market again. Lucky? YOU BET!!

Strawberry Vanilla Macaron Trifle

This time we are luckier and they’ve entered the market a little early, in December, a bit steep yet, but firmly there. Red, ripe, juice and full of taste. So there was no question in my mind and I was thanking Triss for the wonderful idea. It’s a Donna Hay recipe, and is visually delightful and full of charm like all her recipes. I love the fresh look she introduces to cuisine, seasonal variations and great platings etc.

Strawberry Vanilla Macaron Trifle

You can make this in one large bowl like Donna Hay did, or in single servings as Triss did. I am a sucker for single servings, where I love to dress up the dessert individually and pass it around, so everyone can take in the whole picture. For me that in itself offers quintessential charm, the dream of a dessert which lingers on for long.

Strawberry Vanilla Macaron Trifle

Made this as Christmas dessert after the BBQ we had last night. In India, Christmas day is referred to as Bada Din {Big Day} by the natives, a legacy left behind by the British Raj. It’s our adopted favourite festival too. Each year we have a BBQ on Christmas eve for the family & extended family, and the hub takes over the BBQ. This year was no different and we had chicken tikkas, paneer/cottage cheese tikkas in 2 variants, lamb curry, biryani, garlic butter naan … and then these little red, green and white delights to wrap it up.

Strawberry Vanilla Macaron Trifle

Dinner was delicious. Nothing like hot tandoori food straight off the grill, cooked to perfection, smoked flavours enticing the palette. Dinner may have been Indian cuisine, but my dessert had been planned forever! It had to be in red, white & green, the spirit of Christmas and the holiday season served in some style. MACARON TRIFLE! I was unsure about whether I could pull it off. So I made the cranberry jelly a day in advance, and the macarons 3 days in advance. My jelly didn’t set in 2-3 hours as the recipe said, and needed some more gelatin too. It was a simple dessert to make.

Strawberry Vanilla Macaron Trifle

The macaron Gods seem to be shining goodwill on me these days. I found feet yet again; but never underestimate these fiddly creatures. Of the 3 trays I baked, only 1 gave perfect feet!  Why? Ask ’em Gods! Who knows, but I was glad to get 15 perfect feet, and I used 1 crackled top for the 16th! I also had success a few days ago with my savoury macaron experiment for MacTweets, but I have to admit that I love the sweet ones…savoury, alas, are not for me!

Strawberry Vanilla Macaron Trifle

That recipe post follows soon…We were really STUFFED, yet once dessert was served, there was magic in the air. The goblets looked like ‘Santa was stuffed into each glass‘ in Mr PABs words. So befitting for the Big Day, and such an absolute delight!  The colours, the flavours, the textures…all in perfect harmony. The cranberry jelly and suspended strawberries beautifully balancing the macaron and the lightly sweetened vanilla cream. Light yet ever-so-satisfying dessert!

Strawberry Vanilla Macaron Trifle
Donna Hay’s Strawberry and Vanilla Macaron Trifle
Adapted minimally from Donna Hay’s Recipe
The trifle can be served individually or in a large trifle bowl.
Serves 6–8.
16 pieces plain macarons
1 vanilla bean, scraped
300 ml low fat cream
2 tbsps powdered sugar
200 grams strawberries, halved
Strawberry Vanilla Macaron Trifle

For the Jelly
3 1/2 teaspoons gelatine powder {original recipe uses 2 1/2}
750 ml cranberry juice
110 grams caster sugar
200 grams strawberries, quartered
Method:
Jelly
To make the strawberry jelly, place the gelatine and ½ cup {125ml} cranberry juice in a bowl and stir to combine. Set aside for 5 minutes or until the gelatine is absorbed. Place the remaining cranberry juice and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil and cook for 1 minute. Remove from the heat, add the gelatine and stir to combine. Set aside to cool for 20 minutes.
Vanilla Cream
Whip cream, scraped vanilla bean and sugar to soft peaks.
To assemble
Arrange the strawberries in the base of the serving glasses/bowls and pour over the jelly mixture. Refrigerate for 2–3 hours until set. {Mine took almost overnight to set}.
Set a macaron each in the glass/bowl on the jelly. Layer the cream over the macarons. Top with strawberries to serve.
Strawberry Vanilla Macaron Trifle

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deeba

About me: I am a freelance food writer, recipe developer and photographer. Food is my passion - baking, cooking, developing recipes, making recipes healthier, using fresh seasonal produce and local products, keeping a check on my carbon footprint and being a responsible foodie! I enjoy food styling, food photography, recipe development and product reviews. I express this through my food photographs which I style and the recipes I blog. My strength lies in 'Doing Food From Scratch'; it must taste as good as it looks, and be healthy too. Baking in India, often my biggest challenge is the non-availability of baking ingredients, and this has now become a platform to get creative on. I enjoy cooking immensely as well.

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63 Comments

  • Natasha

    2010/12/26 at 11:01 am Reply

    yummmmmmmmmm …….what sight for sore eyes that dessert is!Drop dead gorgeous!Wish you all a merry Christmas and a fabulous New Year.
    Now for macaron 911… my woes with the macarons are non ending…this time, got a lovely hard shell, some feet and most of the cookies stuck to the parchment!Can’t stop trying and just am not able to get it right!Help!!
    Love
    Natasha

    • Deeba @ PAB

      2010/12/27 at 8:01 am Reply

      Thank you Natasha. Macarons? Hmmm…very fiddly creatures indeed and they seem to get affected by minor changes. Lovely hard shell, some stuck could mean too high an oven temperature. Which oven do you have? My new one has the bake function that uses just the lower level… I was quite unsure about this when I began using it, but it seems to work. Would suggest you try just 1 egg white batches to begin with, and with those as well break them up into 3-4 trays. That way you can experiment with different time, temperatures etc. I am no expert though, but I know trial and error seems to work best!

  • Andy

    2010/12/26 at 12:36 pm Reply

    Ooooooh Deeba, what a gorgeous dessert… !! wish I had come across this a couple of days before, it would def have been my Bada-din dessert too..it screams out xmas!!

    Lotsa love
    andy

  • shirley@kokken69

    2010/12/26 at 2:55 pm Reply

    Deeba, what lovely colours! You’ve made a simple jelly dessert look so elegant and classy! Here’s wishing you a very Merry Christmas and all the best for the coming New Year!

  • Mia

    2010/12/26 at 4:05 pm Reply

    Oh i soooo love individual portions too , ur rite , and i totally agree , so muc fun to dress up and u can i different ways!
    I loveee the weather from the North!
    There are strawberries here too and a little pricey but not very sweet , jus nice!!
    Time to get those strawberry tools out rite?
    And this dessert , is absolutely stunning!
    i loveee Donna Hay too ,but ur creations are the best!
    Classy and elegant…
    Dinner sounds so delish too, and the weather seems perfect for a BBQ!!
    ☆♪♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.♪♫•*¨*•♫♪ ░M░E░R░R░Y░ (¯”•.¸*♥♥♥* ¸.•”¯) ░C░H░R░I░S░T░M░A░S░(¯”•.¸ *♥♥♥* ¸.•”¯) ! ♫•*¨*•.¸¸♥ ¸¸.•*¨*•♫♪☆with lodsa love!

  • Mehnaz

    2010/12/26 at 4:15 pm Reply

    Deeba! Thees r GORGEOUS!! Love d colors!! Soo tempting! Hey Deeba, There is an Trifle event going on at my blog! I wpuld b glad if you cud link this yummylicious trifle to my event! Thank you 🙂

  • Lora

    2010/12/26 at 11:07 pm Reply

    Exceptionally gorgeous Deeba. They look delectable. Happy Holidays and a wonderful New Years. Thank you for the warm and enthusiastic welcome you have given me into the Mactweets group.

  • Coffeebeans

    2010/12/27 at 2:51 am Reply

    Wonderful recipe, gorgeous pictures, Deeba!
    Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!
    I love your recipes and your site.

  • Anna Johnston

    2010/12/27 at 6:48 am Reply

    Deeba, your food porn in these brilliant Macaron Trifle is just fabulous, I bet they went down a treat at your Christmas feast (which incidentally sounded fabulous too. Your pics are food art for me, just lovin’ it.

  • Sanjeeta kk

    2010/12/27 at 10:45 am Reply

    Wow! The strawberries in the syrup look so beautiful. Love the macrons in the dessert. I think I will keep it as a deco in my drawing room rather than eat it 🙂

  • Tahemeem

    2010/12/27 at 12:12 pm Reply

    Wow… that looks delectable… love ur space…
    Thanks a lot for stopping by my blog and ur appreciation 🙂

  • Trissa

    2010/12/27 at 1:06 pm Reply

    That’s just gorgeous Deeba… yep I fell in love with Donna Hay’s magazine cover and HAD to make it… I must say – yours is just so much prettier! Especially that one stunning picture of the trifle in the black background! Merry Christmas!

  • bigFATcook

    2010/12/27 at 4:06 pm Reply

    yummy! I love strawberries. Too bad you can’t get fresh ones from your garden at the time. These look very good by the way, and I think I’m gonna make them someday.
    Greets from BFC

  • Petra (Zoom Yummy)

    2010/12/27 at 6:43 pm Reply

    Yummy! These look amazing! Wonderful photography – your pictures are so colorful, amazing and full of cheer. Thanks for all your wonderful posts, art and ideas. Have the most wonderful Holidays! 🙂 Petra

  • Jamie

    2010/12/27 at 9:29 pm Reply

    Gorgeous, sister, absolutely gorgeous and so festive and Christmassy! How I wish I could have shared your two (yes two) fabulous Indian Christmas meals with you and tasted these beautiful desserts. This is a truly fabulous recipe and one I so want to make now! Just have to bide my time for our once a year and all too short strawberry season! Oh, sweets, your friendship has been one enormous and true gift for me this past year and I so mean this! Sisters were never such sisters! Much love to you and your family and wishing you all a joyous, happy and healthy 2011! xoxo Mwah!

  • Asha@FSK

    2010/12/27 at 9:31 pm Reply

    Stunning post!! I love the colors.. ah! the deep red hues of cranberries are always enthralling!! Such a fabuous BBQ spread Deeba… Tandoori chicken! YUMMM!!!! and the macs are indeed so perfect!! awesome stuff!

  • Tanvi@Sinfully Spicy

    2010/12/28 at 2:49 am Reply

    This is one of the most gorgeous desserts I have seen for a long long time.With kindergarten baking skills, I can only dream of making macarons some day..but I have heard that they are quite high in sugar content..so thats one of the discouraging part too besides all the sad macron recipes turning into whopping pies stroies that I keep on seeing around!
    But you got feets & thats reason enough to celebrate 🙂 I love the way u have wrapped christmas colors in one dessert..Stunning!

  • Hanaa

    2010/12/28 at 3:59 am Reply

    Deeba, it’s been waaaaaay too long!! I hope you’re doing well. By the looks of your beautiful colors of your dessert menu, you’re doing fantastic. Those strawberries are gorgeous. Lucky you!!!
    I wish you and your family a very happy New Year filled with happiness, good health and prosperity!
    Hugs,
    Hanaâ

  • Lisa

    2010/12/28 at 4:42 am Reply

    What stunning photographs! Hope you had a lovely Christmas. This looks like such a beautiful dessert, I think I’ll try it out next year 🙂

  • MaryMoh

    2010/12/29 at 10:54 am Reply

    Oh wow…everything is so bright, cheery and Christmassy here! It sure brings smiles in this freezing weather. The trifle looks really really tempting and delicious. I love Donna Hays recipes, too. Happy Holidays! May 2011 be a great year for you!

  • Heavenly Housewife

    2010/12/29 at 3:16 pm Reply

    Okay, actually I don’t like trifle at all, but I have never seen one look so beautiful as this. I am willing to try trifle again, but only if you make it. This is simply stunning.
    Wishing you a happy new year!
    *kisses* HH

  • Sara

    2010/12/29 at 8:27 pm Reply

    Deeba, you are killing me with this gorgeous dessert!!! two of my favorites in one dessert…macs & trifle..you are amazing!

    Happy New Year Dear Deeba! 🙂

  • Leena Rajput

    2010/12/29 at 10:57 pm Reply

    Awesome dessert & beautiful pictures. Happy holidays.
    Do let me know which brand of cranberry juice did u use ????

  • Gera@SweetsFoodsBlog

    2010/12/30 at 9:26 am Reply

    I can’t believe those red- white -delicious pictures of the trifles – really to make cheers with all of them 🙂

    Happy New Year 2011 Deeba!!

    Gera

  • shayma

    2011/01/05 at 12:59 am Reply

    Deeba- the photos are so, so beautiful- dil chah raha hai kha loun ek! wish i could! happy new year, dear, it’s been a while since we’ve been in touch, but i’ve been thinking of you. love shayma

  • Su-yin

    2011/01/06 at 4:02 am Reply

    I loved this when I saw it on the cover, and I love how you’ve made them into individual mini trifles here! So pretty and festive, I like Mr PAB’s description of it! 😉

  • Shaunna Boyd

    2014/12/24 at 9:12 am Reply

    I have to say this is such a beautiful recipe!! I decided to make it for a Christmas Eve dessert (its almost done!) so while I’m waiting I thought I would share what I did since I decided to add a few variations and make this a boozy delight!!

    First off,
    I substituted the cranberry juice for a cran raspberry to give it some extra fruit flavour. I probably wouldn’t recommend doing a 3 full cups of this variation as the raspberry is quite powerful. I only used 1.5 cups of the cran raspberry juice

    I then cut in 1.5 cups of champagne! I mixed the 2 together right away so that when you cut out your 1/2 cup to mix with the gelatine (I used the 3.5 tsp as recommended) its an even mixture. I might add then when you mix the gelatine powder with the juice and champagne mixture its going to bubble quite a bit but don’t worry when you add the boiled sugar mixture and mix it works perfect 🙂

    Secondly,
    Macaroons are quite expensive thought tastey and beautiful I really wanted to make a bigger layer of “cake” topping since I was using a large trifle bowl and not wine glasses. I decided to buy frozen pre made cream puffs! They were quite a lot cheaper for a lot more and have a tasty centre!

    Lastly,
    I didn’t attempt this recipe for the whipped topping as I wanted something a little more simple with a vanilla extract substitute so I just found a pretty simple recipe but still kept it one with that great vanilla flavour.

    I haven’t tried it yet but it looks delicious!! Thanks for a very inspiring recipe!

    • Deeba @ PAB

      2014/12/25 at 6:42 pm Reply

      Merry Christmas Shauna … and huge thanks for taking the time to share your take on the recipe. How clever to use frozen cream puffs {and lucky you can find stuff like that too}…but well. Genius idea I have to say! You are most welcome. So glad you enjoyed it! 🙂

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