In Book Two, The Truth About Secrets, Becky begins to feel some break-up remorse, and good friend that she is, Lydia comes to her emotional rescue with a big bowl of luscious Black Forest Trifle.
excerpt from The Truth About Secrets:
a mere trifle
“Well, haven’t you become the little ‘Suzy Homemaker’,” Becky exclaimed, as Lidia pulled a Black Forest trifle, her recent culinary triumph, from the fridge and set it on the table.
Then handing out the plates and spoons, she retorted, “Better than being ‘Suzy Home Wrecker’.”
“Ouch! I guess I deserved that. Sorry, Lidia, it’s just that I’m still pissed about the way Paul turned the tables on me. And in such a ‘win-win’ way, for everyone but me; I get stuck with Bridezilla as business partner and my kids treating me like I’m the one who’s spoiling their party. ME! The fool who tried to protect their interests from their feckless, moonstruck father,” Becky said angrily, plunging her spoon into Lidia’s luscious confection.
“Well, it doesn’t seem like a feckless plan to me. You’re right though, that was a swift move. Didn’t think Paul had it in him, to be honest,” Lidia observed, digging-in herself.
“Mm, this is yummy... but, no I didn’t think he did either. Ha, must’ve been Ramona’s idea,” she scoffed, scooping-up another big spoonful.
“Are you sure you aren’t underestimating him?” Lidia asked, picking-up a chocolate curl.
“I dunno, maybe. It’s just that I was always the planner, he was the doer. I never thought he was deeper than that, not that he’s dumb, just not deep,” Becky said, waving her spoon emphatically.
“Is that why you had the affair?”
“I think so, he bored me, so dependable, so predictable,” Becky mused, resting her chin on her hand.
“Not so predictable now though, you better keep-up,” Lidia laughed.
“You remember last Christmas, when we went skiing with the girls in the Townships?” Becky asked, plucking a cherry from the top of the trifle.
“Yes, you said you felt the old urge, but nothing happened.”
“Well, it was not for my lack of trying. Javi was closing-in and I just wanted to see if there still wasn’t a spark between Paul and I that needed rekindling. But he begged-off, saying he was too tired, afterwards was distant, so I left it at that.”
“It’s likely he was falling for Ramona, and just didn’t want to get confused,” Lidia offered.
“I think you’re right, but I didn’t know about her at the time. I thought there might still be a chance for us...now I’ve blown it, haven’t I Lidia?” Becky said, with a little sob.
“No,” Lidia admonished, “You said the marriage was stifling, and you really wanted out, don’t forget that.”
Just then Nick came in, sensing the emotional atmosphere, he asked, “What’s this, Becky? Tears in the trifle, c’mon now, Lidia’s cooking’s not that bad!”
“Just get some trifle Nick, and go away,” Lidia said, rolling her eyes.
“Okay, sheesh, I was just trying to – oh never mind,” he said serving himself a large portion, before quickly exiting.
“I can’t believe how he’s moved-on from twenty-three years of us, to a new wife, new baby, new home, all in just two years. No wonder he was so quick to file for divorce after Christmas,” Becky said, frowning.
“Did you really expect him to stay on hold for you? Don’t you want him to be happy too?” Lidia asked.
“Not that happy, and not this soon!” Becky exclaimed.
“But you weren’t happy with him,” Lidia countered.
“I was happy lot’s of times! Now I’ll never be happy again, probably just die alone with a grumpy cat for company,” Becky wailed.
“Nonsense, you’re allergic to cats, and anyway, you have Javi,” Lidia pointed-out.
“I know, he does love me. I’m just being ‘the dog in the manger’, I guess.” Becky sighed, rubbing her eyes, taking another consoling spoonful of creamy trifle she asked, “Hey, is this Reddi-wip?”
“Yep, it is – Extra Creamy. And I don’t care, okay? I tried whipping real cream but ended-up with butter, who knew whipped cream could turn into butter?” Lidia laughed, licking her spoon."
***
Lidia’s ‘Kitchen Klutz’ Black Forest Trifle
Can be dairy-free if you use Dream Whip instead of Reddi Whip, and use a
dairy free cake mix, there are many available on Amazon, some are both dairy & gluten-free.
For Best results, make a day ahead!
Ingredients:
• 1 dark chocolate cake mix
• 6oz. hazelnut chocolate spread , Nutella or similar
• 1 can Reddi Whip, or 2 cups Dream Whip
• 400 grams frozen, pitted, sweet cherries
• 4 oz Amaretto liqueur, or any other you like
• 3 tbsp. granulated sugar
• 1 bar dark chocolate
Method:
• Make the cake according to package instructions – bake as a slab cake, or as a layer cake. It really doesn’t matter as you’re going to cut and piece it to fit your trifle bowl.
• Place frozen cherries in a bowl, add the sugar, stir to coat, and let defrost at room temperature.
• When thoroughly defrosted, make a cherry syrup by draining cherries from their juice over a small saucepan, pressing lightly on them with a spoon to release all the juice. Set cherries aside. Place saucepan on medium-high heat, stir-in Amaretto, and simmer syrup until thickened. Remove from heat, let cool. Then add all the syrup to the cherries and stir to coat.
• In a bowl, expel 2 cups of Reddi Whip, or Dream Whip, stir-in the chocolate-hazelnut spread until thoroughly combined.
• In a trifle bowl, or similar glass bowl, cut a piece of cake to fit the bottom. Spoon over enough cherries with the syrup to loosely cover the cake. Then spoon over the whipped cream to cover. Cut out more cake to fit snugly over the first layer, and press-down lightly.
• Continue filling as per first layer, then add the third and last layer of cake. Add most of the cherries, reserving a few for garnish, and all of the syrup. Dollop, or swirl over the reaming whipped topping in a pleasing way, top with reserved cherries.
• Shave some chocolate from the side of the chocolate bar, over the top of the trifle.
• Cover loosely with cling film and refrigerate for at least 4 hrs., but ideally overnight.
Note: freeze the left over cake trimmings for use later in individual trifles or parfaits.
Comments