Vanilla Country Cake

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour two 8-inch cake tins.

2. Cream the butter and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on high speed until light and fluffy.

3. On medium speed, add the eggs one at a time. Add the sour cream, zest, vanilla, and cream of tartar. Mix well, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.

4. Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda. On low speed, gradually add the flour mixture into the butter mixture and combine until just smooth.

5. Pour batter evenly into the 8-inch baking tins, smooth tops with a spatula, then bake on the center rack of the oven at 350 F for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

6. Allow cakes cool in tins for 30 minutes, them remove and cool to room temperature on a wire rack.

Vanilla Custard

1. Heat milk and vanilla bean/seeds in a heavy saucepan over medium heat until hot but not boiling.

2. While the milk heats, whisk together egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a bowl until smooth and pale.

3. Pour 1 cup of the hot milk and vanilla mixture in a stream into the egg yolk mixture while whisking, add remaining milk and continue to wisk constantly.

4. Transfer mixture to a saucepan and cook over medium low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until thickened enough to coat the back of the spoon and mixture reaches 170 F (about 6-10 min). Do not boil custart – it will split. If it looks like custard is about to curdle, lift saucepan off the heat and whisk firmly.

5. Immediately pour custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean bowl and stir in vanilla extract. Chill custard, covering the surface with wax or parchment paper, until cold and thickened (at least 3 hours).

6. Note: Custard can be cooled quickly by placing bowl in a large ice bath and stirring occasionally.

7. Custard can be stored covered with plastic wrap for up to 2 days in the fridge.

Strawberry Sauce

1. Combine strawberry puree, sugar and vanilla extract in medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat covered until mixture begins to boil, stirring occasionally.

2. Allow strawberry sauce to boil for one minute, then remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Whipped Cream

1. Whip cream by hand or with an electric mixer until firm soft peaks apear. Add sugar and vanilla extract. Continue whipping until stiff peaks apear.

Assembly

1. Once cakes have cooled, cut them to size with a serrated knife so they fit snugly inside trifle container. (for individual portion trifles cut cake with cookie cutters the size of the container or into 1/2" cubes.)

2. Assemble trifle(s) starting with a layer of cake. Then arrange sliced strawberries over cake layer. Cover strawberries and cake with one third to half of the strawberry sauce, then cover with a smooth even a layer of custard or pudding (1/3-1/2 of pudding). Repeat layers until trifle container is full. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.

3. When ready to serve, top trifle with whipped cream and decorate with remaining strawberries.