TIRAMISU TRIFLE

1 (16 ounce) pound cake, plus a few slices more if needed (frozen, store-bought cake is fine)
FOR THE CHOCOLATE-COFFEE PUDDING:
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup instant espresso granules
3/4 cup sugar, divided use
Dash of kosher salt
2 cups milk, divided
3 ounces semisweet chocolate (at least 50 percent cocoa), divided use
1/2 cup Godiva liqueur or other chocolate liqueur
1 cup strong coffee, poured in a pie plate or some other flat pan and cooled
FOR THE TOPPING:
1 pint heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

You will need a trifle bowl or other glass bowl with straight sides. Measure the sides of your bowl and cut 1/3-inch-thick slices of pound cake so that the cake will ring the sides of the bowl and cover the bottom. You will also need a few additional slices for layering when you assemble the dessert.

TO MAKE THE CHCOCOLATE-COFEE PUDDING:
Make a double boiler by filling a stockpot halfway with water and fitting a stainless-steel mixing bowl on the top. (We used a Revere double boiler.) Bring the water to a boil.

Remove the mixing bowl from the pot. Combine the cornstarch, instant espresso, 1/2 cup of the sugar and the salt in the bowl. Add 1/2 cup of the milk and whisk to form a paste. Put the bowl back over the boiling water.

In a saucepan, bring the remaining 1 1/2 cups milk and 2/3 of the chocolate to a boil. Watch carefully so the milk doesn't boil over.

When the milk is scalded, add the chocolate-milk mixture to the sugar mixture and let it cook on top of the double boiler until it forms a thick pudding, stirring often but not continuously. Remove from the heat and allow it to cool for 10 minutes, still stirring every once in a while so it will not form a skin.

Add chocolate liqueur to the cooled coffee.

Dip one side of each slice of pound cake in the coffee-chocolate-liqueur mixture and line the sides and bottom of the bowl, placing the dipped side of the cake facing inward.

TO PREPARE THE TOPPING:
Using an electric beater or a whisk, whip the cream to soft peaks, adding the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and vanilla when the cream starts to thicken. Chop the remaining third of the chocolate.

TO ASSEMBLE:
Now you should have four things ready to build your trifle: the cake-lined trifle dish plus some extra slices of pound cake, the chocolate-coffee pudding, the whipped cream and the chopped chocolate.

Spoon a layer of the pudding over the layer of cake in the bottom of the trifle dish. This should take 1/3 to 1/2 of the pudding. If your bowl has sloped sides, save more than half of your pudding; the next layer will require more pudding.

Spoon on a layer of whipped cream and sprinkle with some of the chopped chocolate. Make another layer of dipped cake slices, then repeat the sequence of pudding, whipped cream and chopped chocolate. This should get you to the top of the bowl.

Cover and chill at least 4 hours before serving.

Source: The Big Platter Cookbook: Cooking and Entertaining Family Style" by Lou Jane Temple and A. Cort Sinnes