Strawberry-Banana Cream Trifle

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Those who read this blog regularly know that I don’t create many desserts for Behind the Bites. First of all, I don’t have much experience with the world of sweets and second, I’ll take a bag of beef jerky over a sugary snack ten times out of ten. In other words, I don’t have much of a sweet tooth.

Sunday night I made a dinner for a group of friends and I knew that I would need to provide a dessert. I stressed over it more than any of the other dishes. After changing my mind around 30 times about what to make, I decided to go the easiest route possible and make a trifle. The hardest part about it would be choosing the right combination of flavors.

I decided to make a strawberry-banana cream treat. The base of the dessert is cubed angel food cake followed by banana cream pudding, strawberries and whipped cream. The strawberry-banana combination worked really well and I’m pleased to say that this yummy creation lasted only minutes after it was served.

BEHIND THIS BITE

Strawberry-banana Cream Trifle

I am really proud of how this desert turned out. Like I said in the intro, I’m not that experienced with deserts so I’m a little apprehensive. This trifle has opened up a whole new world for me. There are about a million different directions I can take a desert like this, all of the layers can be swapped out for different flavor combinations and textures.

I had no idea instant pudding was so easy. Just add milk to the dry ingredients! Who knew! It’s not ideal as far as flavor goes, but when it’s just one element among many instant pudding does the trick and worked just fine here. Chefs and foodies might scoff at the idea but I went with it anyway. I would like to make pudding from scratch for something like this sometime because it would only stand to make it better.

I think I’m going to try another trifle soon, only the next one will feature chocolate and caramel.

Better get to work.

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE

Strawberry-banana Cream Trifle

Serves 12 to 15; 10 minutes; 1 hour inactive
16 oz Whipped topping
1/2 C Sugar
3 pints Strawberries, stemmed, halved
1 large box Banana cream instant pudding (5.1 oz)
2 1/2 C Cold milk
1 lb Angel food cake, cut into cubes

Macerate strawberries, make pudding
Toss together strawberries and sugar, let rest at least one hour. Stir together pudding mix and milk, whisk for 2 minutes, then let rest 5 minutes to thicken.

Build trifle
In a large bowl or 12 to 15 individual serving vessels, layer angel food cake, pudding, strawberries and whipped topping. Place a strawberry or two on top if desired. Then serve.

Peanut Toffee Cookies

Printable version

This is my second attempt at these peanut and toffee treats. I made a batch for Christmas and thought of something new to try right after I made it. I wanted to chop the peanuts to match the size of the toffee bits and rice cereal. Shaping them with a mold was also part of the plan this time rather than letting them harden into free form clusters.

I used mini-whoopie pie pans for molds and they worked fine except that it was tough getting them out. I had to use a knife and I nearly lost a finger in the process of freeing them. I think I’m going to try a silicone mold that will allow me to pop them out next time. I also bent one of the whoopie pie pans rather severely thinking that if I gave it a twist, the little cookies would fall right out. Wrong. All I did was deform a $12 pan.

Chopping the nuts seemed to change the whole complexion of the treat. Without the whole peanuts, the end product seemed like a candy bar center and it just screamed for a chocolate coating – but that will have to be a final touch for the next time.

Despite the mold or coating, I highly recommend trying these. They are delicious. I’m proud to finally have a candy treat of my own – even if it's a work in progress!

BEHIND THIS BITE
I took these to a meeting and I’m surprised at how fast they went. A few ate more than two. I believe that cookies are like beer, once you go past a couple, chances are you're over-indulging. Needless to say I was very pleased that some liked them that much.

Deserts and sweets are something I need to make more of. The best part about this is that it’s still a work in progress and people are already snatching them up – a chocolate coating might take this out of the park!

Eat well, cook often ...

THE RECIPE
Makes 30 treats; 2 hours 30 minutes
1 lb Vanilla candy coating
1/2 C Creamy peanut butter
1 1/2 C Dry roasted peanuts, chopped
1 C Crispy rice cereal
1 C English toffee bits

Melt candy coating, ad peanut butter
In a microwave or a double boiler melt the vanilla candy coating, once completely melted stir in peanut butter.

Stir in peanuts, cereal and toffee
Take mixture off heat and stir in peanuts, crispy rice cereal and toffee bits until well incorporated.

Scoop and cool
In tablespoon-sized scoops, place mixture into molds of 2 prepared mini-whoopie pie pans. Makes about 48 treats. Put in a cool place for 2 hours to let candies set completely, remove from molds then serve.