From Appetizer to Dessert

Today we are going to stop in at our Scuba Shop, Anchor Bay, for their annual Christmas Pot Luck.  I am taking a crab dip and crackers.

 

You only need a few ingredients

 

 

And a few minutes.

 

Crab Dip
1 8 oz. block of Cream Cheese (I use Neufchatel) at Room Temperature
1 4.25 oz. can Crab Meat, drain and pick through removing any cartilage
1 bottle Cocktail Sauce

Spread Cream Cheese onto a platter.  Spread Crab evenly over Cream Cheese.  Top with Cocktail Sauce.  Print Recipe

After the pot luck we are taking both Moms to the Snug Theatre to see the musical, "She Loves Me".  Then we are going to the Benda's for dinner and I am bringing dessert.  I thought about making a Black Forest Cake but then decided that I would make a Black Forest Trifle instead.  I have never made one but it will have all the same ingredients as the cake plus chocolate pudding so how can I go wrong?  Let's experiment together and see how it turns out.

 

I made the cake on this pan so that it would bake and cool quickly.

It only took about 13 minutes to bake.

 

 

While it was baking I made the pudding.

 

 

When the cake was cool, I carefully cut it into even sized squares LOL.

 

 

I covered the bottom of my trifle bowl with some cake pieces.

 

 

Topped it with some pudding and about half the can of cherries.

 

 

I topped that with 1/3 of the whipped cream.

I repeated this twice more but ran out of  cherries after the second layer.

The third layer was completed with cake, pudding and whipped cream.

I had about 10 squares of cake left over.

 

 

I had some chocolate leaves in the cupboard so I topped it with that.

I am pleased with how it turned out.

 

Black Forest Trifle
1 box Chocolate Cake Mix, made according to package directions
2 small or 1 large Instant Chocolate Pudding, prepared according to package directions
1 pint heavy cream
1 T. powdered sugar
1 can Cherry Pie Filling

Cut cake into 2" squares.  Whip cream and powdered sugar with a stand mixer using the whisk attachment until light and fluffy. Place layer cake pieces, using 1/3 of the total, into the bottom of a Trifle Bowl.  Top with 1/3 of the prepared pudding. Drop 1/2 of the Cherry Pie filling by spoonfuls over the cake and pudding.  Spread 1/3 of the whipped cream atop.  Repeat 2 more times, skipping the cherries in the third layer and ending with whipped cream.  Garnish with Chocolate Shavings.  Print Recipe