Did your cake stick to the pan?

Sometimes, even when a recipe says to grease and flour a pan it still sticks. One time when I made a sheet cake it broke when I removed it from the pan. So what did I do, you ask? I made a trifle! This idea saved the day and the dessert. It’s really easy and you probably have most of the ingredients on hand.

I’m fortunate that my domed cake plate can be inverted into a trifle bowl but you can use any clear bowl but if there are straight sides, all the better. It just makes it look pretty.

So, to make the trifle from a not so pretty cake:

Chunk up the cake and by that I mean either break it into pieces or cut it into chunks. You don’t want crumbs but if you get an abundance, I’ll tell you what to do with them at the end. Cover the bottom of the bowl with a layer of cake. Now grab some pudding. Either make it from a box or use the pudding snack cups in your fridge. Add a layer of pudding. Now, here’ where you can get creative…toss in a layer of fresh berries, slice strawberries if using them, some chopped nuts, chocolate chips, chopped up Oreo’s, etc. Next layer is a whipped topping. Use cool whip for convenience or whip up some whipping cream sweetened with some sugar. Now repeat the layers and finish when the cake is gone or the bowl is full. It’s best to end with the whipped topping. Now, if you’ve got an abundance of crumbs, sprinkle them on the top layer as a garnish. You can also garnish with the berries or chocolate chips you used in the trifle.

An important thing to keep in mind when building your trifle. Be creative but make sure the flavors meld. If you have a yellow cake, chocolate pudding is a natural choice and would look nice in the bowl. If your cake is chocolate, you could go the all chocolate route. This also works well with brownies rather than cake. Your guests will never know our little secret!