Macheesmo

Last year at this time Betsy and I were unfortunate enough to be living in an apartment without any air conditioning.

Central air was a myth, but we couldn’t even fit a window unit in any of the windows.

Sometimes during the day I would open the freezer and stick my head in it for 10 seconds. Just long enough to get a blast of cold air without actually freezing the sweat on my face!

This year we are lucky enough to have A/C, but it’s still hot and I love fast recipes like this that involve zero cooking.

Creamy. Delicious. But, most importantly, cold.

Berry Lemon Trifle Jars

by Nick

Serves:

4-8 jars

Prep Time:

20 mins

Total Time:

30 mins

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Trifle Jars are a fun recipe full of fresh, ripe blueberries and tart lemon. These creamy jars are a great way to beat the heat in the hot summer months!

Recipe adapted from a 5280 recipe.

Ingredients

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 cup coconut cream

12 ounces whipped topping, divided

1/2 lemon, juice only

Yellow food coloring (opt.)

12 ounces blueberries

Vanilla wafer cookies

Instructions

1) In a medium bowl, beat softened cream cheese with hand mixer until light and fluffy. Then mix in about half of the whipped topping and a cup of coconut cream. Keep beating until mixture is smooth and creamy.

2) Add in lemon juice a few drops of food coloring if you’re using it. Mix to combine.

3) Set up your jars (I recommend using the smaller 8oz. jars and you should be able to get 6-8 of them. Crumble a few vanilla cookies in the bottom of each jar.

4) Spoon in a few spoonfuls of lemon mixture, followed by berries and then some whipped topping. Repeat for a second layer.

5) Top the jars with lids and freeze until needed. They will keep great in the freezer for weeks.

Before serving, remove from freezer to let thaw for 45 minutes or so.

Trifle Jars

Layers and Layers

This is a really simple recipe. The layer I struggled most with honestly wasn’t the lemon/coconut layer, but the whipped topping layer.

I tend to be against whipped toppings, but if you make real whipped cream, it won’t freeze very well. So the whipped topping that is in your freezer section is really the best way to go.

The only real mixing you need to do for these Trifle Jars is to beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer and then add the coconut cream and about half of the whipped topping.

Note that there is a difference between coconut cream and coconut milk. You can use coconut milk, but coconut cream really makes the layers decadent.

Add in the lemon juice once the mixture is smooth and maybe a few drops of yellow food coloring. The food coloring is very optional, but I like just a few drops of it.

Then beat it all together until it’s very cream and smooth.

Jarred

Building the jars is super fun and would be a great activity for kids.

I like to start with some crumbled vanilla cookies in the bottom of the jar. Then drizzle in some of the coconut/lemon.

As you can see, the layers go: cookies, lemon cream, fresh berries, whipped topping.

Repeat this twice so you have two layers in each jar!

If you use smaller 8 ounce jars, you should be able to get 6-8 jars out of it.

I actually use larger jars and got just four out of, but I think they were too big.

Once the layers are made, pop on the lids on the Trifle Jars and freeze them until needed.

The only trick is to take them out of the freezer about 45 minutes before eating them so they soften just slightly.

If you’re really in a hurry you can microwave them on defrost for 30 seconds (defrost is important or you will just nuke them)!

This is just a fun recipe and it’s a great way to beat the heat in these hot summer months!

Stay cool, people. Stay cool.