Creole Christmas Trifle Recipes

Steps:

• Mix rum, anise, jam and (optionally) the food color with a wire whisk until everything is well integrated; the alcohol in the rum helps dissolve the jam quickly so it shouldn't be more than 30 seconds.
• Pour evenly over your cake pieces and place bowl in fridge for a few hours or overnight (covered). The more cake pieces you use for the inside, the denser and heavier the cake will be. The Russian cakes I remember weighed several pounds and seemed very heavy for their size.
• When ready to assemble cake, bake your boxed cake according to instructions in a 9-inch cake pan. When cool split the cake evenly down the middle. Place one half in a 9-inch springform pan (one used for cheesecakes) and "fill" with your soaked cake pieces. Try to get this even as possible.
• Place top layer over "filling" and cover with plastic wrap, the plastic touching the top of the cake. I placed my cleaned cake pan over the top of this and weighed it down with jars from the fridge. The reason I did this was to make sure that the cake was flat, number one, but also I wanted some of the "juice" from the middle to seep into the top and bottom layer, thereby binding the cake together.
• Place in fridge overnight (make sure it's covered). The next day, frost the top and cover with sprinkles.

Steps:

• Sprinkle chicken with 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper. In a large skillet over medium heat, brown chicken in oil; remove and set aside. In the same skillet, saute onion, celery, green pepper and garlic until tender. Stir in tomatoes, water, paprika, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, cayenne pepper and bay leaf; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes. , Add chicken. Whisk cornstarch and cold water until smooth; stir into chicken mixture and bring to a boil. Simmer, uncovered, until chicken is tender, 10-15 minutes. Remove bay leaf before serving. If desired, serve with rice.