Strawberry Banana Trifle

What dessert did I make for Easter dinner this year you ask?  Well I made a fun, fabulous, floofy dessert otherwise know as a Strawberry Banana Trifle (thanks for asking). Do not fear!  Though Easter is already passed, you do not have to make it just for holy holidays though, no sir!  A trifle makes a nice, beautiful, easy dessert anytime through the spring and summer months with any seasonal fruit of your choice.  Kids love it, grown ups love it.  It is a sure fire win and has that elusive "wow" factor that cookies or cupcakes just can't deliver.

Ain't she a beaut?  Well the nice thing about this one is that it is a very family friendly recipe.  My 4 year old helped me put it together, which is why is doesn't quite have that military precision of a super fancy Martha Stewart concoction such like this:

Wow.  Now that's precise.

The other nice thing about trifles in general is that you can make them just as fancy as you want, or you can just chill out and layer as you go.  Choice is up to you.  

Mine above is a tad more casual and laid back.  Of course I could spend extra time and effort aligning all the berries, but my brother and nephews are just going to scarf it up as fast as humanly possible anyway.  Plus it was rather fun to let my little one dump in the layers as we went along and help me.  She was having a blast and let me assure you it will taste the same regardless. The only caution about trifles is to NOT do what Rachel did on Friends, where two pages of a cook book stuck together and she made half trifle, half shepherd's pie.  Ug I believe the layers were lady fingers, jam, beef, custard, and peas.  I think the verdict was it "Tastes like feet".

For a non-foot tasting trifle, gather the following plus bananas (not shown).
(click here for a printable recipe )

angel food cake, strawberries, 2 large boxes vanilla pudding, cool whip, bananas, and milk

*Make this entire recipe sugar free by having sugar free versions of cake, pudding mix, and whipped topping 

First, you want to prep your ingredients beforehand.  Take your store bought angel food cake and cut it in half.  Turn each half into one-inch cubes. 

Make your vanilla pudding mix and set aside, wash and chop up strawberries but save bananas until right before you start layering.  Also the size of your trifle bowl will determine how much of each ingredient you will use, because you want enough room for 2 full layers.  For a extra large family trifle I will put half the angle food cake, half the pudding, half the fruit and half the whipped cream and layer that twice, but for that you will need a pretty big bowl.  My mom's trifle bowl that I borrowed turned out a bit on the small side, but I came up with an ingenious solution that I will show you in a minute.

Next start the layering process.  Drop in angel food cake then cover with pudding...

    Add a layer of strawberries and then a fresh cut layer of bananas.

Next add a layer of cool whip (this can also be home made whipped cream) Then repeat the process for a second full layer of angel food cake (tip: once the 2nd layer of cake is in, press down gently to help lightly pack down the first layer), then continue with the pudding, strawberries, bananas and finish off with whipped cream.

By the end you should have something that looks like a fancy dessert.  Now what do you do if you do not have a trifle bowl on hand?  Well I came up with a perfect solution when I started to stare at the container the angel food cake came in from the store.  If I turned it upside down it could easily become a make shift trifle bowl.  What?  I'm a genius!

Presto!  Upside down angel food cake container becomes a trifle bowl

This really came in handy for me because my mom's trifle bowl was a tad on the small side for our big family,  so all the left over ingredients went in here for a second trifle.


Next all you have to do is store it in the fridge for a few hours to let the flavors meld.  Matter of fact, you can make this the day before and let it set overnight.  Then on Easter all you have to do is whisk it out of the fridge and throw it in the car for the trip over to grandma's house.

And here it is safely at Grandma's house next to the other Easter goodies.  Super easy, super fun, and super delicious!