I’m not about to buy a whole bottle of cherry brandy for this recipe. Plus, I’d like to substitute something non-alcoholic so my toddler can eat it. Here’s the recipe - any suggestions?
Non alcoholic - go with a watered down simple syrup with the juice from a jar of marachinos.
(Simple syrup = equal parts sugar and water, heated to get the sugar to dissolve).
(Half a cup cherry brandy in that much cake and custard isn’t going to be much even for a toddler - its like giving her cough syrup. So if you wanted to stay traditional, you could use regular brandy or rum, with the same juice. But I find that any liquor in trifle (or its Italian cousin tiramisu) does give it a touch of the taste of “ye old lighter fluid” - turning off most children.)
I might try the liquid from the bottled cherries, or from a bottle of maraschino cherries.
And… beaten to the punch.
Looking at the recipe, the brandy is there to add moistness and flavor. I am no trifle expert but I would consider using the juice from the can of cherries. You might need to thin it with water if it is packed in heavy syrup.
Another option, if the cherry juice doesn’t appeal, is the juice from a can of pears (packed in fruit juice, sometimes called “light” but contains no artificial sweetener), flavored with a few drops of cherry extract.
I just love the word “macerate,” don’t you?
My grocery store actually carries cherry juice. That’s what I’d substitute, since the only purpose of the brandy is to moisten the cake. I think pomegranate juice would also work.
If you want the brandy flavor, you can get brandy flavoring. (For some reason, I have four bottles of the stuff.)
The trifle sounds yummy!
Thanks! Like the freakin’ genius I am, I realized I could probably come up with something doing a search :rolleyes: , and discovered pretty much what you guys are saying. So I think I’m going to try the simple syrup/cherry juice combo.
Dangerosa, I figured it would be okay, and we would probably just try the custard with him, since he’s not much of a dessert eater to begin with, but I also really don’t want to buy a whole bottle of cherry brandy just for this recipe 
.
I bought a trifle bowl last year specifically for this recipe, and didn’t make it (because we were all sick as hell with bronchitis and I didn’t feel like cooking :D), but I’m in charge of dessert for Christmas day this year. So we’re having it, come hell or high water.
Dayquil.
I came in to say, Grenadine? Doesn’t that come in cherry? It is non-alcoholic. ETA: Either Grenadine, or this?
That would’ve been perfect last year. 
freckafree did mention pomegranate juice, which is close.
Yeah. Just pointing out an option that might not have occured to the OP, one that shouldn’t be hard at all to find, in case she needs it. 
I think maraschino cherry juice is alcoholic. There is a certain amount of alcohol added, to wit the teeetotalers.
Maybe no alcohol, but as a byproduct of sulphurous cure.