Pulling Out the Stops on Mother's Day: From Scratch with Love

Nothing says, "thank you,  Mom" like Mother's Day brunch made from scratch.  If you know me, you know that cooking for my family is a labor of love which I engage in regularly.  However, when honoring my amazing my mother, I like to pull out all the stops.

Preparation for Mother's Day brunch on Sunday will begin with a visit to my local farmer's market on Saturday.  I will seek out the freshest produce I can get my hands on including beautiful fava beans, asparagus, strawberries, rhubarb and peas.  In the beginning of May, these ingredients are being cultivated within a stone's throw of Castro Valley.

I derive great inspiration from perusing just-picked berries, knitting-needle-thin asparagus, and gorgeous purple carrots with moist earth still clinging to their spindly roots tips.  I find the bounty at my farmer's market life affirming. For me it embodies a local farmer's time and painstaking devotion—a parallel I draw to my mother's love.  

Below, please find my recipe for a spectacular spring berry trifle that is almost too lovely to eat. Fresh, local berries are the star of this delicious brunch recipe which whispers love with every bite.  

Spring Berry Trifle with Meyer Lemon Curd & Chantilly Cream     

For the Pound Cake*

*Store bought pound cake can be substituted with excellent results

Makes 2 cakes

• 1 pound (3 1/4 cups) plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 3 sticks softened unsalted butter, plus more for pans
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 9 large, room-temperature eggs
• 2 tablespoons sanding sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter two 5-by-9-inch loaf pans. Combine 3 1/4 cups flour and salt in a bowl.
2. Cream butter, sour cream, and sugar with a mixer on high speed until pale and fluffy, for 8 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl. Reduce speed to medium, and add vanilla extract.
3. Lightly beat eggs, and add to mixer bowl in 4 additions, mixing thoroughly after each and scraping down sides. Reduce speed to low, and add flour mixture in 4 additions, mixing until just incorporated. Divide batter between pans. Tap on counter to distribute; smooth tops.
4. Before baking, sprinkle sanding sugar over each cake. Bake until a tester inserted into center of each cake comes out clean, about 65 minutes. Let cool in pans on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Remove from pans, and let cool completely on wire rack.

For the Meyer Lemon Curd

Makes 2 cups

• 1 cup fresh-squeezed Meyer lemon juice

• 1 cup sugar
• 4 large egg yolks
• 4 large eggs
• a pinch of salt
• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed

Directions

1. Place a mesh strainer over a bowl, and set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, whisk together the lemon juice, sugar, egg yolks, eggs, and salt.
3. Add the butter cubes and set the pan over low heat, whisking constantly until the butter is melted.
4. Increase the heat and cook over moderate heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens and just begins to become jelly-like. It's done when you lift the whisk and the mixture holds its shape when it falls back into the saucepan from the whisk.
5.  Immediately press the curd through the strainer. Once strained, store the lemon curd in the refrigerator. It will keep for up to one week.

For the Chantilly Cream

• 2 cups heavy whipping cream, chilled
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons  vanilla extract

Directions

1. In the bowl of a mixer, whip cold cream to light peaks. Add sugar and vanilla and mix until well incorporated.

For the Fresh Berries

• 2 pints of fresh berries such as strawberries, black berries, raspberries and or blueberries.

To Assemble the Trifle

1. Cut one pound cake loaf in to one inch cubes.  Add 1/3 of the pound cake cubes to the bottom of your trifle dish.
2. Next, layer with 1/2 cup of Meyer lemon curd.
3. Arrange 1/3 of the berries decoratively along the perimeter of the trifle dish, over the layer of lemon curd.
4. Add 1/2 cup of the chilled Chantilly cream over the berries.
5.  Repeat these layers two more times ending with a layer of Chantilly cream on top.
6. Allow the trifle to rest, covered and chilled, for three hours before serving
7. Garnish with fresh berries and a sprig of mint if desired.

Serves 10 -12 generously