Merely a trifle, merely a trifle

So, back in 2013, I decided to give making trifle a try.  Little did I know the wonderful variations we'd discover down that enticing rabbit hole!  Here we go, a post devoted to what is becoming our house's favorite dessert: 

The Trifle

The first trifle I made, and the one I've made most frequently, is the Red, White, and Blueberry Trifle from Skinnytaste.

Ingredients:

• 10 oz angel food cake, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 pints strawberries, sliced
• 2 pints blueberries

For the cream filling (what I call the fluffy layer):

• 6 tbsp fat-free sweetened condensed milk (I used Borden Eagle)
• 1 1/2 cups cold water
• 1 package white chocolate instant pudding mix (the small box)
• 12 oz frozen whipped topping, thawed

Directions:

1. Whisk the condensed milk and water in a bowl. 
2. Whisk in the pudding mix for 2 minutes. 
3. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set; fold in the whipped topping.
4. Arrange half of the cake in the bottom of a 14-cup trifle dish. 
5. Sprinkle evenly with a layer of blueberries. 
6. Spread half of the cream mixture over the blueberries and gently spread.
7. Top with a layer of strawberries. 
8. Layer the remaining cake cubes on top of the strawberries, then add more blueberries and top with the remaining cream mixture. 
9. Finish with the remaining strawberries and blueberries, arranging them in a pretty pattern. 
10. Cover and refrigerate at least one 1 hour.

Notes, Variations, Etc:

Skinnytaste recommends using a plastic bag with the corner cut off to pipe on the fluffy layer and then spread it.  I just use a spatula.  Whatever works for you :)

I make my angel food cake for this dessert, using a box mix.  If you're short on time, you can just as easily use a purchased cake.  And if you want it a little denser/richer, you can substitute pound cake instead. And they don't really need to be 1-inch cubes.  Chunks of cake are fine too, as it'll all be layered in with fluff and fruit soon enough.

As desserts go, this one isn't doesn't have to be horrible for you.  Use a lighter cake, like angel food, use fat-free and/or sugar-free ingredients when you can, and pack in the fruit.  See?  Relatively healthy, as desserts go :)

What is so much fun with trifle is the variations on it.  It can be rich and heavy, it can be light, it can use whatever fruits you want to put in!  A trifle is simply a layered dessert with a cake-type layer, a pudding-type layer, and quite often a fruit layer.  Whatever you want to layer is then up to you!  I think my Sweet Stuff board on Pinterest is slowly becoming my Trifle Possibilities board, with all the variations out there!

I think I've made the strawberry-blueberry version about 5 times now, but I have made others too.  Some of the variations we've tried:

• Lemon-raspberry - lemon pudding in the fluffy layer, and lemon snaps for the dry layer (can't really call it a cake layer when they're cookies, right?)  Delicious combination of flavors, but I think I needed more lemon snaps, and I wouldn't use frozen raspberries again (it was all I had at the time).  Still, very good flavor combination!

• Pumpkin Spice - gingerbread and pumpkin pie filling feature heavily in these layers - actually have written this one up, too!

 

•  Christmas (strawberry-kiwi) - tried this variation just this week.  Bright red and green, but not the standard "Christmas" flavors, so it's a nice variation to bring to a potluck at this time of year.  I based this on Joy's Prize-Winning Trifle from allrecipes, and then altered it to my tastes.  Her recipe includes layers of banana and pineapple too, making it much more tropical.  I'm not big on bananas in dessert, so I went with just the classic strawberry-kiwi flavor combo.  It was still a hit :)

  

Some of the variations I've pinned and want to try:

• Key Lime Trifle from Betty Crocker - angel food cake, key lime fluffy layer - what more do you need?
• Dreamsicle Trifle from Time Travel Kitchen - angel food cake, orange sherbet, mandarin oranges - yum!
• Lemon Trifle from i2u2gethercooking - basic lemon fluffy layer with angel food cake and optional coconut topping
• Colossal Caramel Apple Trifle from Taste of Home - yellow cake, apple pie filling, vanilla fluffy layer, and caramel sauce
• Basic Chocolate Trifle from Cocinando con Alena - brownies, chocolate pudding, whipped topping layers
• Triple Chocolate Peppermint Trifle from Martha Stewart - brownies, chocolate and white chocolate fluffy layers, lots of candy pieces for crunch and mint
• Nutella Mousse Trifle from Something Swanky - brownies, Nutella mousse - might be dangerous!!
• Strawberries and Cream Trifle from The Alison Show - angel food cake, plain and strawberry fluffy layers, strawberry pieces - nice and classic
• Black Forest Trifle from Recipe.com - chocolate cake, chocolate fluff, cherries
• Italian Tuxedo Trifle from Random Sweetness Baking - amaretto brownies (!!), white chocolate fluff, strawberries

And that's just a start!  Be creative!  Enjoy!

PS - if you are from our house, you get the joke in the title to this post.  That one's for you, Anne!