Dessert for a crowd can be difficult. I have always been a fan of the Berry Trifle at outdoor gatherings. It’s pretty. It’s tasty and you make it as big or little as you want. I like Tyler Florence’s recipe a lot. Feel free to substitute some good vanilla pudding for the lemon curd or, heck, use both!

Berry Trifle
Adapted from Tyler Florence
Yields 4 servings

You can adjust it up or down depending on how many you are feeding. It is also lovely when assembled in individual serving glasses.

Ingredients
For the Berries
1 pint blueberries
1 pint strawberries, hulled and cut into thick slices
2 pint raspberries
1 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

For the Lemon Cream
1 quart whipping cream
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 (11-ounce) jar lemon curd—we recommend Stonewall Kitchen
1 pound cake, sliced 1/2-inch thick—our favorite is still Sara Lee in the freezer
And if you are going for the alternate vanilla pudding, we recommend Dr. Oetker Organic.

Directions
Prepare the Berries
Rinse the berries and place in a saucepan. Sprinkle with half of the lemon juice and toss lightly.

Add the sugar, cornstarch and remaining lemon juice to the saucepan and place over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer and cook just until the berries begin to break down and give up their juices (about 3 minutes). Remove from the heat and let cool. The mixture should thicken up as is cools.

Prepare the Lemon Cream
In a clean bowl, whip the cream with the sugar and the vanilla to soft peaks. Put the lemon curd into a second bowl and stir in a little of the whipped cream to loosen it. Then gently fold in the rest of the whipped cream.

Assemble the Trifle
Spoon a layer of the lemon cream into a large glass bowl. Add a layer of pound cake, breaking the slices into pieces to create a layer that fits the glass bowl. Then soak the cake with a layer of berries and their juices. Keep going to make 3 or 4 more layers, depending on the size of the bowl. The top layer should be lemon cream.

Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.