Great Bake-off 4, desserts

Signature Trifle

I immediately thought of the Finnish dessert "pappilan hätävara", "the emergency dessert of the vicarage" (yes, it literally means that :-D You see, the vicarage could be visited at any moment, and they had to have something to serve, and even though they did bake a lot at a vicarage, there were times when the cakes and whatnots were a bit stale, not too pristine and fresh, so the kitchen whipped up this dessert to be served to the unexpected guests. It is trifle, made with crumbs of all kinds, softened with some juice or cordial or sugar water, layered with jams, jellies, conserves and fresh fruit and whipped cream, and behaves like layer cake :-)

Now, as most priests back in the 18th and 19th century were either trained in Sweden, by people who were trained in Sweden, or from Swedish families (like my ancestors), this recipe originally came from Hansa. It's called "angel food" in Sweden, and "veiled farmer girl" in Norway, Denmark, and Germany. (I almost translated it to "veiled bond girl", because I couldn't remember what "bonde" was in English :-D I think I like that :-D) (The veil is like the bride's veil, and not like something to hide behind.)

In Denmark this "farmer girl with veil" is also known as aeblekage, apple cake. One is supposed to make apple sauce and roast Danish rye bread with sugar to make the "cake layers", but now-a-days people use sweeter breads for the "cake layers". I find the apple sauce too soft and mushy to really enjoy this dessert, but my husband loves it. On the other hand, he likes mushy foods (and is Danish ;-))

I think this Danish version might work well for this challenge, though I would make apple compote. 

And I think I'd replace the traditional rye bread crumbs with rye cookies. Maybe soften them a little with whisky. Rye whisky. :-D That should work beautifully with the flavors.

Technical: Mary Berry's Floating Islands

Showstopper: 24 Petit Fours: 12 Biscuit-based, 12 Sponge-based

Biscuit based? Sponge based? I was thinking of making Alexander pastry, and cut it into tiny cubes, but... I don't think that's either biscuit or sponge based. I suppose it is sort of a shortcrust pastry, so it's "biscuit based", and I think they'd like some of the traditional mini cake cubes. I think maple syrup flavored cake with buttercream, and brown sugar fondant cover with a bit of caramelized bacon on top. :-D