Just Desserts

It’s easy to quickly fill your menu up with appetizers, meats, sides, and salads, but don’t run out of steam before dessert! Beyond just a sweet meal-ender, a great dessert conveys love — yes, we said it — like nothing else can. Find your favorites and stock your freezer because, spoiler alert: There are a lot of meals ahead of you.

Vanilla-Raspberry Custard Trifle

This is a winning recipe made all the better for the ready-made ingredients in it. Enjoy!

• 1 white cake recipe (use a boxed cake mix)
• 1 10-oz (285-g) container raspberry doughnut filling
• 12 pieces Viennese crunch
• 1 12-oz (340-g) container vanilla custard
• 1 16-oz (450-g) container pareve whipping cream
• ¼ cup confectioners’ sugar
• 2 Tbsp amaretto liqueur

Crumble half of the white cake and lay on the bottom of your trifle bowl. (Use the second half for coffee and cake or freeze for future use.)

Carefully place small spoonfuls of raspberry doughnut filling all around the edge of the bowl, over the crumbs. (The more neatly you work, the more professional-looking dessert you will get.) Start from the outside and create a circle in the visible part of the bowl, then smear the filling over your layer of crumbs. Work slowly and don’t be concerned if it’s not a perfect layer.