Things do not always go as planned and my kitchen is no different.
For a number of reasons, including the fact that my camera blew up, my Lughnasa cake did not get as much heat as it needed for as long as it needed, so I thought I would fess up and show you my solution in case this happens to you.
This was my Blueberry, Nectarine, Zucchini Cake for Lammas and although it looks like it is fully baked, when I cut through to start and put it together, I discovered it was all an illusion. Something I had done to myself by assuming and not checking.
You can possibly see in the picture below the more yellowy section in the middle where it is still very moist. More moist than I would feel good about serving.
So what to do? Trifle of course! Well sort of.
Let’s begin with… this is an example, posted as a suggestion. There is no need to follow these exact steps ( I don’t expect you to locate Cascade berry liqueur or underbake a cake ). My intention is to share the idea and then turn you loose to create your own version if ever needed.
Trifle is an English pudding made from layers of alcohol drizzled cake, pudding, fruit and whipped cream. I improvised as there was no time to cook pudding.
First up I used a cookies cutter to cut out the middle of the cake, the part I thought was not baked.
The cookie cutter happened to be the exact size needed for the parfait glasses so I began to feel a little better. The top and bottom of the cut out section was fully baked so I started with a layer of cake in each parfait glass.
That left a hole in the middle of the cake which I finished up as if that was the original plan.
I am making a little Cascade berry liqueur from my very small harvest and offered up a few tablespoons to the parfait. You can try rum or brandy or something else inviting in your cabinet. If you prefer to go the virgin route, the cake was certainly fresh and moist enough without anything.
The next step would normally have been pudding but in the interest of time, I opted for honey flavoured yoghurt. One individual serving was just right for two parfaits. Then I layered blueberries and small pieces of nectarines ( left over from the cake ) and more of the liqueur drenched pieces of cake, leaving out the parts that were too moist.
The final step was to whip up some sweetened whipping cream.
I set aside enough for a final dollop on top and added more liqueur to the whipped cream. The fourth layer was the flavoured whipped cream which was then topped with more fruit and that final plain spoonful of whipped cream. Give your parfait a few hours in the fridge to mature and serve.
What fruit you chose to add is completely dependent on what flavour of cake you are having adventures with and what you have readily available. After all you had an original purpose for baking the cake and it probably has a time factor. Trifle often uses canned fruit, so tinned peaches and pears are options as are poached apples if nothing fresh fits the bill.
This is what I ended up with, a lovely light dessert for two. Yes, some of the center made it into compost but as you can see it was not a total loss. So, don’t despair if things don’t go as planned. There is very often a creative solution just around the corner.
And truly, no one knew the difference when the Lughnasa cake was finished. I put a small vase in the middle and we were off to Lugh’s races. 
Trifle Parfaits from My Kitchen Wand
