Pumpkin Trifle

This delightful dessert is the very essence of fall. Delicious and moist pumpkin spice cake is drizzled with caramel sauce, layered with cheesecake pudding, cool whip and a sprinkling of toffee and toasted pecans. It is absolutely divine and would make a wonderful finish to any holiday meal.

A dear friend of mine passed along the recipe to me, stating that her family prefers it to pumpkin pie. They choose this tasty treasure for Thanksgiving every year…over pie. Now, that is really saying something, yes? I knew I needed the recipe after that great review. 🙂 She was not wrong. It is delightful!

Let me show you how to make it happen…

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Grab a medium sized mixing bowl and add the spice cake mix, vanilla pudding mix, cinnamon and nutmeg. Toss together to combine. Add the canned pumpkin, water, vegetable oil and eggs. Mix on medium speed for 1 minute, then scrape the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula and mix on medium speed for about 2-3 minutes, or until the batter has fluffed up a bit and seems very creamy in texture.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. You could even make this a day or two in advance, cover with plastic wrap and keep it in the fridge until you are ready to assemble your trifle.

Chop your nuts and toast them in a fry pan over medium high heat. It should only take a few minutes. Be sure to stir them frequently and watch that they don’t burn. Remove from the heat when they are fragrant. Cool completely.

When you are ready to assemble your trifle, place the pudding and milk into a medium sized mixing bowl and beat on high until thickened. Should take about 4-5 minutes.

Cut the cake into 1 inch cubes and place 1/3 of the cake into the bottom of a trifle dish. Drizzle just a bit of caramel over the top of the cake. About 3 Tb worth.

Spread 1/3 of the pudding over the top of the cake.

Spread 1/3 of the cool whip over the pudding.

Sprinkle some toffee pieces, and some of the toasted nuts over the cool whip layer.

Repeat the layers twice more. Delicious!

Delicious and beautiful!

Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving. You can assemble it up to 24 hours in advance.

Hope you get a chance to try it! Happy fall, everyone. 🙂

Recipe adapted from my wonderful friends and neighbors Teena Stucki and Allison Parson