- Hey, I'm John Kanell.
And today on Preppy Kitchen,
we're making a delicious summer trifle
with grilled stone fruit
from my new book.
So let's get started.
First off, I'm making an easy, amazing vanilla cake.
So my oven's at 350.
And in a large bowl,
I'm adding 3 1/4 cups, or 390 grams,
of all-purpose flour into a large bowl.
I'm also adding in 2 1/4 cups, or 450 grams,
of granulated sugar.
1/4 teaspoon of baking soda.
And 2 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder.
My scale is done.
I'm gonna sift this out.
I'm also adding in a generous 1/4 teaspoon
of kosher salt for balance.
Set this aside.
Now, in a separate bowl,
I'm adding one cup, or 226 grams, of melted butter.
One cup of room temperature whole milk.
Time for four whole eggs, also room temperature.
Four eggs are in.
We're gonna whisk this up.
To flavor this very special dessert,
I'm using the seeds of a vanilla bean.
If you want, you could sub that in
for two to three teaspoons of vanilla extract.
Scrape those seeds out.
That is a juicy, delicious vanilla bean.
Into the cake batter.
It's gonna look so pretty
seeing those dots of black seeds throughout.
Save this.
I would use this to make vanilla sugar.
Now, we're gonna add the wet to the dry.
Just pour that right in.
I'm gonna whisk this up,
mixing it just until combined.
This smells so good.
And if you wanna make things ahead of time,
because you're busy,
you can make the cake two or three days ahead.
You could even freeze it and then thaw it out
and then assemble the day of.
You could actually assemble it a day ahead.
It keeps.
But it's best if assembled the same day.
I lightly buttered a 9x13 inch pan,
and I'm just laying a little parchment across the bottom
so it comes out nice and easy.
Pour that batter right in.
It's speckled throughout with vanilla.
It's spectacular.
Stop.
(chuckles)
Smooth the batter so it's nice and level.
This is ready to go into the oven,
350 for about 35 minutes
or until the center is springy to the touch.
This recipe is actually one of my favorites
from my new book.
You can pre-order it today.
And inside, you'll find over 100 recipes
I've never shared before.
So this book kind of captures the magic
of our first year here at Hedge Hill Farm,
where we were experiencing the seasons
and just all the magic they can bring.
So in the fall,
we had all these apple and pear dishes,
like tons of spices just bubbling away on the stove.
But in the summer, we're out and about, I'm grilling.
There's tons of fresh fruit and produce to use,
and the flavors are more light.
I really wanna thank everyone
who's ordered a copy of the book already.
I am blown away by the response,
and it means the world to me.
So excited to share this.
So grab your copy today.
There's links in the description box below.
But now, it's time to get back to the recipe.
I found the most amazing peaches
at my local farmer's market.
These are gonna be great grilled,
but I also spied some beautiful apricots.
You can really use any summer stone fruit
you'd like in this recipe.
I'm gonna cut these right in half.
And if we're lucky, they'll be free pit.
Yes.
Beautiful.
You'll want a little over two pounds of stone fruit.
Should be about six large peaches.
But you can add some more.
You can add a little bit less.
It's just gonna layer differently.
It kind of depends on the size of your trifle dish.
If you have an extra-large one,
you can definitely add more fruit.
These apricots are just as easy.
My peaches are sliced,
but before I grill them,
we're gonna pit those cherries
and let them soak in some Lillet,
a little bit of orange juice, and sugar.
This goes by much easier
(pitter clacks)
with a cherry pitter.
You want about one pound of cherries for this,
but it's best to buy a little bit more
to allow for snacking.
If you don't have any cherries on hand,
you could try using some plums.
Those will be really nice as a substitute.
And they're also in season.
My cherries are all pitted.
We're gonna halve them now
and then give them a delicious bath.
Yes, your hands will get a little red.
It's totally worth it, though.
These go back into the bowl.
Now we're gonna add one tablespoon of sugar.
Three tablespoons of Lillet.
This is a fortified wine flavored with orange peel,
and it gives you a very light citrusy flavor.
It's not like Aperol at all.
So it's gonna add a nice depth of flavor here.
And to complement that,
we're gonna add three tablespoons
of freshly squeezed orange juice.
(bell dings)
Give that a nice stir.
We're gonna let this sit.
The cherries will release some of their juices,
and we'll be using that to soak the cake layers into.
Ah, it's gonna be so good.
Now it's time to grill.
And today I'm using a grill plate.
If you wanna use your barbecue, have at it.
Just make sure it's very clean.
We don't wanna mix any flavors together.
I'm heating my grill up over low heat right now.
I also melted some butter for brushing.
Okay, give it a brush.
Look at that.
And then, we're just gonna grill these
until they soften slightly
and get some beautiful markings on them.
We're not gonna cook it down to mush.
These are just gonna have a little bit more depth of flavor
from the grilling.
This recipe was inspired by my love of grilled peaches
that are one of my favorite things to have in the summer.
And I love them with a little bit of ricotta
sweetened with honey from our bees,
maybe a sprig of mint on top,
little balsamic in the pit when they grill.
Ah, it's so good.
I wanted to combine those flavors that I love
into a summer trifle,
and this is the result.
I really hope you love this.
If you wanna see if your grill's ready
and you're using this,
just add a little bit of water.
It should sizzle right up.
This is nice and hot.
So I'm gonna add my peaches cut side down
and just give them a slight press.
You're just gonna grill this over low heat
until it has those nice black marks
and is softened up a bit.
It gives you a nice depth of flavor.
But you don't want to overcook this or make it too hot,
because it'll just start separating, burning,
and that's not delicious.
Smells so good already.
If you're not sure on timing,
just do one test fruit and see how it cooks.
I would start with 2 1/2 minutes
and go all the way up to five,
just depending on your grill.
You can always take a little peek, just
pry the fruit up.
It's just some grilling and it's softening up.
The quarters actually get just flipped over,
and the halves you pull up.
That looks beautiful.
Ah, these are perfect.
The secret is really low heat.
These will fall apart over high heat.
You can use this technique for grilled peaches
for all sorts of things.
You could have them in savory dishes.
You could make a really simple cobbler out of this, too.
It's gonna be a technique you're gonna use
over and over again.
While my stragglers are grilling up,
I'm just gonna slice these peaches into nice little wedges.
So 1/4 is too big.
You want it sliced into eighths.
And for maximum beauty,
we're gonna leave these grill marks
on the outside of our trifle dish
so they're exposed.
Back into a bowl,
three more tablespoons of Lillet for these guys.
And one more tablespoon of sugar.
Here we go.
These are also gonna release their juices,
and we'll be using those, as well.
So just give it a toss.
We're gonna set these aside to hang out
and make an amazing cream,
and then everything is gonna come together.
The magic that holds this trifle together
involves whipped cream and Greek yogurt.
Here's the deal.
I love whipped cream.
It's one of my favorite things to eat.
Two cups in the bowl, by the way.
But if you have too much of it,
it's gonna weigh you down.
You're just not gonna feel great.
If we mix in some Greek yogurt,
it's gonna make it even more thick, more luscious,
give it a nice balance of flavors,
and it's gonna lighten everything up
so you can have a much larger portion
and feel great afterwards.
Start mixing it on low.
We're gonna add 1/4 cup, or 50 grams,
of sugar right in there.
Increase speed.
And by the way,
you could either split your vanilla bean in half.
So half a vanilla bean in the cake,
half a vanilla bean in here.
I have a little bit left over.
Or you could use two teaspoons of vanilla extract.
I may have added the whole bean into the cake,
but that's totally fine.
All right, gradually increase your speed.
I wanna mix this until I have very soft peaks.
I'll finish it off by hand.
Overmixing whipped cream will make it curdle,
and it just takes away all the lovely flavor.
You'll end up with a delicious butter.
Soft, almost done.
Give that a mix.
And now, we have a perfect consistency.
It's time for two cups of Greek yogurt.
It's one of my favorite ingredients.
It goes really well in cakes, too,
'cause it gives you a little bit of tang
and a lot of moisture
without making the cake greasy.
I'm gonna mix this just until it's combined on low.
And I want you to see the difference it makes.
Oh my gosh.
Give this a swirl.
Beautiful, soft peaks.
And they have a lot of substance now,
so it's really thickened the whipped cream up,
and it's gonna give it more body
so you have perfect layers in your trifle.
My cake's cooled, out of the pan,
and now we're gonna give it a cut,
starting with a slight trim.
I would love to have little cubes
of golden and off-white cake.
These bits that are extra caramelized
can just be for snacking later.
You'll want about one-inch cubes of cake,
because more surface area gives you more Lillet
and peach juices that can get soaked in.
If the cubes are too small,
they might dissolve and just break down,
so they have to have a little bit of body to them.
And of course, this is easier with a serrated knife.
If you only have a smaller trifle dish on hand,
you might have some extra ingredients left over.
That's totally fine.
You can make little individual trifles to serve,
or freeze the cake cubes for later.
They're delicious with ice cream.
Our cake is cubed.
In a three to four-quart trifle dish,
I'm adding about a cup to a cup and a half of my cream.
You wanna have a lot left over to mound on top.
It's gonna look really dramatic.
Spread that to the edge just a bit.
Now, we're gonna pack cake cubes over this whipped cream.
And if you want, you can rip them up into smaller pieces
so it fits into a nice mosaic of cake.
This cake is delicious,
but it'll be even better soaked
with about half a cup of Lillet.
This is Lillet Blanc, by the way.
Just drizzle it over.
And you want to have all the cake blessed with the Lillet.
Now, we're gonna add a little less
than half of the peaches on top.
And I actually reserved
some of the prettiest peaches for the top
that have wonderful grill marks,
but feel free to arrange them towards the edge as well.
I'm also gonna drizzle some of this peach juice.
That cannot go to waste.
Just like with the peaches,
I'm gonna spoon up little less than half
of the cherries on top as well.
These have a wonderful punctuation of color,
and they are delicious.
Also, some of the cherry juice as well.
More whipped cream.
I'm gonna add almost the rest of the whipped cream on.
I'm saving some for the very top.
It's time for another layer of cake.
This is a lovely dish
that you can just bring out on a warm summer day.
And because the cake can be made well in advance,
you don't have to turn the oven on if you don't want to.
But you'll still enjoy all those amazing summer flavors.
Another 1/2 cup of Lillet.
And now, pile high with fruit.
And we're not done yet.
The rest of the cream crowns the top.
This is just an abundant, joyous,
easy celebration of the season.
It's what the cookbook is all about.
And I'm really happy I get to share it with you,
and I'm happy I get to eat this, too, right afterwards.
I also reserved some peaches
that had beautiful grill lines,
just to showcase what happened in this dessert,
as well as some cherries that are left over.
And as a final flourish,
a few flowers I picked this morning.
Any edible flower will work just beautifully here.
Totally optional, but I can't say no.
It looks so beautiful.
The last bit of peach juice gets drizzled over the top.
And this summer trifle is ready to serve.
That is a symphony of summer flavors.
It's so well-balanced.
And the yogurt in this just lifts everything up
with a little bit of tang.
You're gonna eat the entire thing right away.
Thanks so much for watching.
I hope you get a chance to make this recipe
and explore the book that it's in as well.
If you liked this video, check out my summer playlist.