Saturday, July 21, 2012

Summer Trifle

by Peg Cochran

Coming August 7!


We love holidays at our house and the 4th of July is no exception.  Except this year we were in the throes of packing to move to a condo after ten  years in our house, and my mother had just decided to move out to Michigan to be near us, and we still weren’t through helping her get settled.  All of this to say we decided on a simple menu—burgers, Julia Child’s French potato salad (the French did help us out during the Revolution you know so it’s not entirely inappropriate!), cole slaw brought by our friends and something simple for dessert.

This fresh fruit “trifle” comes from skinnykitchen.com and really fit the bill for easy while it made the most of “store bought” ingredients.   And the berries contributed to the red, white and blue theme of the day.  I imagine one could use other fruits easily enough—peaches, raspberries and blackberries come to mind!  I don't have a lot of pictures (see aforementioned moving/packing) but I think you'll agree this looks delicious!

The finished product
A fancy bowl adds to the presentation











7 cups of fruit (in this case I used 5 cups of sliced strawberries and 2 of blueberries)
1 box of instant, low-fat, sugar-free vanilla pudding, prepared according to directions
1 angel food cake, divided in half and cut into one-inch cubes
1 8 oz. container of fat-free (or not!) frozen whipped cream, thawed
½ cup strawberry glaze (we used Smuckers)

Find your biggest crystal bowl and place half the angel food pieces in the bottom.  Sprinkle approximately two cups of sliced strawberries over the cake (or whatever fruit you choose).  Spread half the vanilla pudding over the strawberries, sprinkle with ½ cup blueberries and drizzle ¼ cup of strawberry glaze over all.  Spread ½ container of whipped topping over the glaze.  Repeat the layers of angel food cake, strawberries, blueberries, vanilla pudding, glaze and whipped topping.  Decorate the top with remaining sliced strawberries and blueberries.  Bon appetit!

4 comments:

  1. I bet everyone raved about it, too! It looks like a fabulous dessert for a summer feast.

    Congrats on completing your move. I'm sure you're relieved to have that huge job behind you.

    ~ Krista

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  2. This is such a pretty dessert, sounds good! =D
    Thanks for sharing!

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  3. I make this all the time... It is great.

    Here is a variation if you want to get a little fancier.

    Angel Food Trifle

    angel food cake
    1 small vanilla instant pudding
    1 16oz. can peaches (save juice)
    4 oz. cream cheese (I use fat free), softened
    1/4 cup milk (I use skim)
    1 medium container cool whip

    Bake your angel food cake or use the store bought already made one.

    Cut the angel food in thirds (any way). Then cut one third of the cake into cubes and do the same with the other thirds keeping it seperate bowls.

    To make the trifle filling:

    Drain the peaches but SAVE the juice. Cut peaches into small strips. Pour the juice into the pudding mix and stir until well blended. Cream the room tempeture cream cheeseand add the milk and again, mix well. Add this to the pudding mixture and MIX WELL.

    Place 1/3 of the cake into a large bowl or trifle dish. Then place a half of the pudding over the cake. Place half of the peaches over the pudding and then a layer of cool whip. Repeat once again. This leaves you with the last third of cake left. Top with the cake and spread some more cool whip on top.

    Chill.

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  4. Oooh, that sounds very yummy! I will have to try that!

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