SHF #28 Food to Seduce

I absolutely couldn’t help myself — when I saw the theme for this month’s Sugar High Friday (food to seduce) I immediately had two great ideas: a Raspberry-Clementine Trifle and Raspberry-Prosecco Gelatin. The first recipe comes from my darling sister-in-law Tessa, who made trifles for our family’s winter solstice dinner. We called them “Get Laid” trifles — because they are so good and so tasty. The second is a recipe I love because it involves my favorite type of wine: prosecco. They’re an adult take on traditional jello and because the fruit is frozen while the gelatin is only cold, it creates a pleasing set of different temperatures in your mouth.

Clementine-Raspberry Trifle

Raspberry-Prosecco Gelatin

Clementine-Raspberry Trifle
Makes 6

The day before:

2 Pt. Raspberries
1/4 C. Sugar
2 tsp. Lemon juice
1″ Fresh Ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

Combine and toss, let sit two hours then refrigerate overnight. Discard ginger and reserve juice.

The day of:
3 Clementines, segmented and peeled
2 sprigs Mint, torn or chopped
2 tsp Honey
½ Vanilla bean, split and scraped [couldn’t find the beans, so I used Vanilla extract, which worked fine]

Combine all ingredients in small bowl and set aside

1/2 C. Water
1/2 C. Sugar
1/4 C. Clementine juice

Combine in small saucepan, bring to boil. Cool. Add optional splash of raspberry syrup

1 1/2 C. Heavy cream
2 Tbl. Sugar

Whip together to soft peaks.

1/2 C. Gingerbread cookies, crushed [or Shortbread cookies - I couldn’t find the gingerbread]
6 Lady-fingers or Italian coffee cookies

Garnish:
6 Gingerbread cookies
Sprigs of mint

To assemble, in six parfait/wine glasses:

Soak one half of lady finger in syrup for a few moments, place in glass
Top with spoonful of raspberries
Top with spoonful of clementines
Spoon in some whipped cream
Top with some crushed cookie
Repeat each layer and garnish with mint and a cookie.

Raspberry-Prosecco Gelatin
1 (6-ounce) package raspberry-flavored gelatin
1 cup boiling water
2 cups Prosecco or other sparkling wine, chilled
1 1/2 cups frozen raspberries, not thawed

Whisk the gelatin and boiling water in a medium bowl until the gelatin is dissolved, about 2 minutes. Refrigerate until lukewarm, about 25 minutes. Stir in the Prosecco. Cover and refrigerate until the gelatin thickens but does not set, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour. Stir in the raspberries (bubbles will form in the gelatin mixture). Divide the gelatin among 6 Champagne flutes or individual dessert bowls. Cover and refrigerate until the gelatin is set, at least 2 hours and up to 2 days.