Summer Berry Trifle

First, make the pastry cream. Mix together 1/2 cup of the sugar with the cornstarch in a medium bowl. Add the eggs and whisk thoroughly. Set aside.

Pour the milk in a saucepan and scrape the vanilla seeds from the pod into the milk. Add the vanilla bean halves to the milk along with the salt. Warm over medium heat, stirring frequently, until it barely comes to a boil.

Remove the milk mixture from the heat and very slowly pour about a quarter of the milk mixture into the egg and sugar mixture while whisking constantly. Then pour the warm egg-milk mixture back into the hot milk in the pan. Return it to the stove over medium heat and cook, whisking constantly, just until the mixture thickens and it is just below a boil, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Immediately pour the pastry cream through a fine-meshed sieve into a clean bowl. Let it cool for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cut the butter into four pieces and whisk each piece into the warm pastry cream, one piece at a time, until the mixture is completely smooth. Press a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the mixture and refrigerate until completely cool, at least a few hours and preferably overnight.

When you’re ready to assembly the trifle, make the whipped cream. Combine the whipping cream and remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a bowl (preferably one that has been chilled briefly in the freezer) and beat it until soft peaks form. Set it aside.

To make the fruit puree, peel and pit the nectarines. Place in a blender along with about 1/2 cup of some of the fresh berries (blackberries will give the puree a nice, dark color). Blend until smooth.

Cut the purchased angel food cake into 1 1/2-inch cubes.

To assemble the trifle (and this is the fun part!), layer all the ingredients attractively in a clear trifle dish, alternating layers of cake, nectarine puree, pastry cream, whipped cream, and fresh berries. Any old order is fine, as long as the nectarine puree goes on top of the cake cubes so that the juice will soak in. But if you’re the sort that likes to follow directions, you can do the following:

Place about half of the cake cubes in the bottom of the trifle dish. Top with about half of the nectarine puree and about a third of the remaining fresh berries. Spread half of the pastry cream over the berries and top with about half of the whipped cream. Continue layering, with another third of the fresh berries, the remaining half of the cake cubes, the remaining half of the fruit puree, the remaining half of the pastry cream, and the remaining half of the whipped cream. Finish off by garnishing the top with the final third of fresh berries.