Strawberry Banana Trifle

I like pretty food.  Trifles are pretty.  I love that you can see all the layers, the more colorful the better.  Not only are trifles pretty, but they taste good too.  I have never had a trifle that I didn’t like.  This Strawberry Banana Trifle is no exception.  One key ingredient in any trifle is the dish.  You can’t really enjoy the layered effect without the clear glass dish.  I bought mine about a year ago from amazon and it has worked perfectly.  Also, it is inexpensive!

Everyone in the family loves this trifle.  Andy, not too big on sweets, likes this because of the fruit.  He is definitely a fruit dessert guy.  Even the littlest picky eater enjoys it.  It is a win on all counts!

This trifle has angel food cake.  You can either buy an angel food cake from the bakery at your local grocery store, buy a box mix, or make it yourself.  I like to make it myself and use this recipe  from ourbestbites.com.  The recipe calls for cake flour.  If you don’t have cake flour, just add 2 Tbls of corn starch to the 1 cup measuring cup then add the flour.  I love the addition of almond flavor but if it’s not for you, just omit it.  You will only use about half of the cake so be prepared to enjoy the other half as strawberry shortcake or with just about any kind of fruit!  If you decide to make the angel food cake yourself, you will need a round pan.  I just use my bundt pan but this one is especially nice because of the feet.  An angel food cake must cool upside down.  This pan has built in feet specifically for that purpose.  If you are just using a regular tube pan, sit it on a bottle or upside down glass to cool.

I am not a big fan of pudding in general, however, I love moose.  I always add cream to my pudding to give it a moose texture.  If you prefer the pudding, just use milk in the pudding mixture.  Also, I used freezer jam in this recipe in addition to fresh strawberries.  You could just use fresh strawberries, but honestly, we love freezer jam and it takes it to another level of yummyness!  That’s not really a word but I am using it!

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Strawberry Banana Trifle

Layers of light angel food cake, vanilla moose, strawberries, and bananas combine to make this delicious trifle.  

Course Dessert

Prep Time 25 minutes

Servings 14

Ingredients

• 1 angel food cake
• 1 5.1 oz package instant vanilla pudding
• 1 1/2 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cup cream
• 1 lb strawberries
• 2 cups strawberry freezer jam or strawberry topping optional
• 3 bananas
• 2 cups whip cream

Instructions

1. Prepare the pudding by mixing the milk, cream, and pudding mix for 4 minutes on high speed in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer.  Refrigerate for about 20 minutes to set.

2. Cut up half of the angel food cake into 1 inch pieces. Set aside.  Slice the strawberries and bananas.
   

3. Begin to layer the trifle.  Line the bottom with pieces of cake.  Spread half of the moose mixture on top of that.  Layer the strawberries around the bowl and on top of the moose.  Spread one cup of the freezer jam on top of the strawberries and finish with a layer of bananas.

4. Repeat all the layers once more and top with whip cream.  Refrigerate until ready to eat.