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26
Dec
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Always a Delight! |
During the holiday season, delights abound. Spending time with family (if yours is not so delightful, I feel sorry.) Shopping for the one you love. And of course, all the yummy food. In my family, a trifle is a staple on any dessert spread for a holiday gathering. We’re also big Friends fans, so the trifle incident has a special place in our hearts. So much so that the trifle bowl was one of the first items purchased from my wedding registry – by my brother. Typically, it’s a chocolate cake trifle with chocolate pudding, cool whip, and toffee bits. My Aunt Jane has been making this trifle for so long that this common dish has a special name in our family – White’s Delight, after her last name. Last year, when I introduced the Gingerbread Pumpkin trifle, it was like a whole new world of trifle had opened. Suddenly, no one can pick a favorite and it’s just imperative that we have both. I could go for rich chocolate anytime, but there’s something so different and delicious about the gingerbread one, which is less sweet and a little bit spicy. When my Aunt asked me to bring this to Christmas for a “trifle taste off“, I gladly obliged.
The inspiration for this recipe comes from Paula Deen. Last year, I made it almost just as she instructed, except for substituting sugar free, fat free instant pudding (perhaps unfortunate, this is the only kind of pudding I have ever known), and canned pure pumpkin rather than pumpkin pie filling. (It has actually occurred to me that perhaps calling for pumpkin pie filling is a typo? Since pumpkin pie filling already contains sugar and spices, I can’t imagine why one would need to add more brown sugar and cinnamon. It seems like pure pumpkin might have been intended.) Instead of using crushed gingersnaps for crunch, I used toffee bits.
But this year, I wanted to take it one step further. So, I made my gingerbread cake from scratch, and I made some maple-glazed pecans for crunch.
One other little problem with Paula’s trifle recipe is that I don’t seem to have a large enough trifle bowl. I should have cut the recipe down, but I forgot. I think one box of pudding and a 15oz can of pumpkin would be plenty, and I might have gotten away with cutting the cake recipe in half. I also needed one and a half containers of whipped topping, but that might be because I went for 3 layers – I think it’s prettier that way! With the extra ingredients, I made some individual trifles in cocktail glasses to enjoy later.
You might still be wondering what I meant by a “taste-off”. My Aunt said we were going to “compete” and see which trifle was eaten more. The result? Well, let’s just say after everyone taking a bite here, a bit there, and repeating over and over… it was a tie 🙂
I'm Cara, lover of creative, clean food and healthy living. Pumpkin, goat cheese, and eggplant make me swoon. I have an insatiable sweet tooth and desire to lift heavy things. 
MrsPresley — January 2, 2008 @ 3:24 am
yum! this trifle looks delicious! i love the idea of a gingerbread trifle…
Jerri — January 5, 2008 @ 8:57 am
this looks delicious.