Strawberry Cheesecake Trifle Recipe

This is a trifle that I invented earlier this year.  It was probably the end of April.  I had just gotten this Trifle Bowl for free as part of my hostess credit from the Pampered Chef party I hosted, and I just HAD to find a great use for it right away!!  LOVE that trifle bowl!  Not only does the pedestal part easily detach for storage, but it also has a lid so you can store leftovers in the refrigerator.

And here's the recipe, as promised!

Strawberry Cheesecake Trifle

1 and 1/2 boxes fresh strawberries 

2  8 oz. pkgs cream cheese

1   8 oz. tub whipped topping

1/2 cup powdered sugar

16 oz. strawberry glaze

2 boxes cheesecake flavored instant pudding mix (regular size)

3 cups milk

1 strawberry cake mix

Make strawberry cake according to box directions.  Bake, remove from oven, and cool completely before cubing half of the cake into 1/2 inch cubes.

Mix 2 boxes of pudding with 3 cups cold milk.  Refrigerate 5-8 minutes or until set.  Pudding will be extra thick.

Place cream cheese in microwave safe mixing bowl.  Microwave on high for 1 minute or until soft enough to whisk smooth with whisk.  Add powdered sugar and 8 oz cool whip.  Whisk together until smooth and fluffy.

Wash and  prepare strawberries, removing stem and core.  Slice using egg slicer (don't use an egg slicer from Wal Mart.  It will almost definitely break.)  Mix strawberry slices with glaze.

Layer in the trifle bowl in the following order, using about half the ingredients each time (so that there are two layers of each item when all is said and done):

Cake

Cheesecake pudding

Sliced strawberries in glaze

Cream cheese mixture

Ignore the order in the Trifle in the picture...I realized AFTER the fact that you really don't want to end the last layer in cake if you want a pretty trifle.  That's why I grabbed another tub of whipped topping and loaded the top of the Trifle with it--so that the cake cubes wouldn't be jutting out the top. 

I don't know that you can really see it in this picture, but I ended the trifle by placing a few choice strawberry slices on top to form a flower shape.  Ideally I would have tucked a fresh mint leaf or two along side of those, but I didn't have any, and green onion sprigs on top just didn't sound appetizing at the time...not sure why?!

Good luck, and if anyone decides to try their hand at this trifle, I would love to see pictures and hear what you think!

Valentine's Day Sugar Cookies

Ok, so it's totally the wrong time of year to be posting this, but I really wanted to share a couple pics of the cookies I made last Valentine's Day for the Sweetheart Banquet I helped set up.  I also made cherry and strawberry cheesecake and chocolate cake, and chocolate dipped strawberries.  There was almost nothing left (which is the way I like it)!!

Wow, this makes me hungry!  It was so much fun to put together!  I am really looking forward to making Christmas cookies this year.  I intend to have some fun with them as well. :-)

Ok, this blogging thing is so addicting that after I post this, I am going to post one more with a really great trifle recipe that I made this spring.  I found the picture while pulling up the ones of these cookies and strawberries, and I just can't resist sharing it.  The post with the step by step how to make the chocolate covered strawberries pictured above will have to wait though!!  :)

My Favorite Recipe Website...EVER!!!

I totally LOVE to bake and make pretty desserts!  I have a nice beginning to a collection of beautiful cookbooks, but I also find the internet very helpful in finding just the right recipe.  Here is a link to the website that is now my 'go-to'.   I love their pictures, detailed instructions, and little bits of information and history.  Definitely check it out!

http://www.joyofbaking.com/

I Just Like To Talk

This is the first blog I've ever done.  I just like to talk, and hey, here is a harmless place where people can choose to listen---or not.

I have a multitude of things I'd love to make my first post about...how to decorate sugar cookies, put together a wedding cake, how to clean in a hurry when guests are coming over, how to jump rope backwards...  but instead I am going to go and mend a bag of clothes for a friend.  She was going to throw them all away when there is hardly anything wrong with them!  I can mend them all for her in about an hour, and then I'll probably head over to her place to help her decorate the Halloween sugar cookies she is making for a school event.

In the meantime, I will at least leave you with something pretty to look at if I can figure out how to attach it!  It is a picture of the wedding cake I did this past Sunday for my friend Becky's wedding.  Her wedding theme was a Masquerade Ballroom, and her flowers were deep purple calla lilies and star gazer lilies.

I'll be back later to post more...if anyone has a suggestion of what they would like to hear a post about, feel free to comment. :-)