The boys are demanding sweets.

They bring me a big bowl of blackberries they picked from the backyard.

I think they want me to do something with it.

This is not the first bowl of blackberries I have seen this year. It will not be the last.

The begging starts. I cut it off: No.

No pie. No cobbler. No crisp. It’s hot; I’m not turning on the oven. Uh-uh.

More begging.

Ok, there’s gotta be a way to make everybody happy, but I’m so not baking today.

This is what I invent: Rosemary-Scented Blackberry Trifle

Sadly, there is no good picture to document it’s success because we could not eat it fast enough. Really, it tasted ridiculous, store-bought angel food cake notwithstanding.

It took me maybe 5 minutes to make. You can thank me after you bring this to some summer picnic potluck and everybody raves about your kitchen prowess while you privately smirk at how effortless it was.

Rosemary-Scented Blackberry Trifle
Blackberries, a big bowl of them
Rosemary, fresh.
Sugar (I use palm sugar because it is less refined and doesn’t make me as crazy.)
Greek Yogurt (no, lowfat is never recommended)
Mascarpone Cheese, optional and awesome
Angel Food Cake (Sure, I guess you could make it at home. But, I’m not turning on the oven, thankyouverymuch. Hubs turned up his nose at the storebought stuff when he saw it on the counter, but he remembered and rescinded his derogatory comments within the first few bites of the finished product the next day.)

Sprinkle palm sugar to taste over blackberries and stir in rosemary sprigs. Let sit a few hours. Or, cook them. (See note below.)

Stir mascarpone until smooth and slowly add greek yogurt to incorporate. (One time, I  used plain yogurt but the times I sweetened it was way better, softer and overall, more juicy. You could even cheat and buy vanilla flavored Greek yogurt. This from a gal who *always* chooses plain yogurt when given the choice.) Tear angel food cake into fist-sized pieces.

To assemble, form a layer of cake pieces on bottom of trifle pan (use a large mixing bowl in a pinch), cover with a layer of berries and a layer of yogurt mixture. Repeat until complete, finishing with yogurt mixture on top. Refrigerate for at least 24 hours. The longer the better. It really makes a difference.

P.S. If your blackberries are coming from the backyard and there might be creepy crawlies living deep inside, you might want to cook and cool them before using. I’ve made this recipe several times and always wash and pick over my berries well, but I had an unfortunate batch where some little bugs started to proliferate in the 24 hours or so that the trifle mellowed in the fridge. It really bummed me out to have to toss the batch.