Angel Food Cake Cherry Trifle

1. Place cherries, water, lemon juice and 2 tbsp of honey in a small pot. Place over medium heat and allow to cook down for about 15 minutes stirring occasionally. Set aside and let cool.
2. Whisk yogurt, cream cheese, vanilla and remaining honey until smooth.
3. (Regular Texture) In a large caserole dish or individual glasses, layer some pieces angel food cake, than yogurt mixture and then cherry sauce. Layer again with more cake, yogurt and cherry sauce.
4. (Mince Texture)Puree the cherry sauce in a food processor or blender until smooth. It should mound on a spoon but easily drip off when tiled. Pass through a sieve if necessary. Remove any harder browned pieces of the cake, and then mince with a fork or food processor until the pieces are smaller than 4mm and fit between the prongs of a fork, use a little cherry sauce to help add some moisture *(Fork Test details below). Layer the minced cake with the cherry sauce and yogurt sauce.
5. (Puree Texture)Puree the cherry sauce in a food processor or blender until smooth. It should mound on a spoon but easily drip off when tiled. Pass through a sieve if necessary. emove any harder browned pieces of the cake, add to a food processor with a couple spoons of the yogurt mixture and puree until smooth. It should mound on a spoon but fall off once tilted **(Spoon Tilt Test details below). Pass through a sieve to make sure you remove and bits that haven't pureed. Layer the cake puree with the cherry sauce and yogurt sauce.

• Cherries are a good source of phytonutrients. Phytonutrients are plant nutrients that are often found in colourful fruits and vegetables. 
• Many phytonutrients have antioxidant properties and have been shown to help reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease and stroke.
  
• On a minced or pureed diet, it is not recommended to eat dry breads, dry cakes or dry biscuits. These are a choking risk. You can however mince and puree moist breads, cakes, pancakes and muffins. These foods should be pureed well and then strained to remove any lumps.

Testing:

Mince Diet: For a minced diet, all food should be served finely mashed or chopped to 4 millimeters lump size. Then served in a thick, smooth, non-pouring sauce.

• *Fork Test: The slots/gaps between the prongs of a standard metal fork typically measure 4 mm, which meets the particle size requirement of foods on a Minced and Moist diet. Use a fork to gently press down on the food and check that the food pieces easily fit between the prongs of the fork

For more information, the International Dysphagia Diet Initiative has made a video that provides instruction on how to make a sandwich that is safer to eat on a minced diet. See the link below for instructions on how to make a Level 5 Minced & Moist sandwich:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0I9FDjwJR0L5svIGCvIqHA/featured?reload=9

Puree Diet: On a pureed diet, the pureed foods should have a smooth texture with no lumps. They should hold shape on a spoon, but should still be able to easily fall off the spoon when it is tilted.

• **Spoon Tilt Test: The food sample should hold its shape on the spoon and falls off fairly easily if the spoon is tilted or lightly flicked. The food sample should not be firm or sticky.

For more information about Pureed Diets, please visit:
https://iddsi.org/IDDSI/media/images/ConsumerHandoutsAdult/4_Pureed_Adults_consumer_handout_30Jan2019.pdf

Important: If you notice changes in your ability to chew and swallow, it is important to let your doctor know. Your doctor can refer you for a swallowing assessment