One of my favorite desserts to make is a trifle. It is fast, easy and for whatever reason, guests always assume you’ve gone to a lot of effort to prepare it.
It has an elegant presentation and the best thing about it is you can change it up to whatever flavors you are craving or fruits that are in season.
You can make a one large dessert in a trifle or pedestal bowl or you can make individual desserts that are quite eye-catching and appealing.
The basic ingredients for a trifle include:
Cake, cut into bite-sized cubes
Pudding
Whipping Cream, whipped and lightly sweetened (add a dash of Confectioner’s Sugar)
Fruit
The wonderful thing about trifles is that you can use any combination and come up with something so tasty. You start with the cake cubes, then layer pudding, fruit and whipping cream and continue layering until your bowl or container is full. If you are in a really big hurry or have company drop by unexpectedly, you can use a pre-made cake, instant pudding, a can of pie filling and frozen dairy topping and have a show-stopping dessert ready in mere minutes.
My favorite combination is pound cake*, chocolate and vanilla pudding, strawberries and raspberries and real whipping cream. On the layers, I alternate the chocolate pudding with the raspberries and the vanilla pudding with the strawberries. Top with a layer of the whipping cream and then shave chocolate curls across the top and finish with one glorious berry.
You can use any type of cake but pound cakes, angel food cakes and sponge cakes work well. You can also use any type of fruit. In the summer, fresh peaches, nectarines and berries are so good. In the winter, I like to use tropical fruits like pineapple and mandarin orange sections. You can use kiwi and bananas or any type of pie filling. Use any flavor of pudding. Spring is a great time to try lemon with sponge cake and berries. Autumn is a perfect time to blend gingerbread with pumpkin pudding and candied nuts or cinnamon cake with apples and caramel sauce.
The combinations you can create are only limited by your imagination. Have fun with this and I guarantee your guests will not only be impressed, but delighted with the delicious blend of flavors.
What is your favorite combination? I’d love to know! Please leave a comment!
*For information about the pound cake I use or the serving pieces in the photo, please subscribe to my newsletter.
Savvy Entertaining 
Shanna – my mouth is watering! Yum. I LOVE trifle but have never made it. I thought it had to be lots of work with everything from scratch but I love your short cut tips. Can’t wait to make some now. If only I had some pudding and whip cream in the house, I would make it tonight!
Shanna, go to my blog (http://lindamccormick.wordpress.com) for a little present from me!!
[…] up a pumpkin dessert like Pumpkin Cake, Pumpkin Roll (a holiday-must have at our house) or even a Pumpkin Trifle. And for goodness sakes, don’t forget the pumpkin seeds. You can make your own or buy them […]