Nothing Trifle About This

tri·fle

/ˈtrīfəl/

noun

noun: trifle; plural noun: trifles

a thing of little value or importance.

HA! Not my Trifle.

I much prefer the British definition of Trifle “a cold dessert of sponge cake and fruit covered with layers of custard, jelly, and cream”

I don’t love Pumpkin Pie…it just feels a little boring. Last year I made a pumpkin cheesecake which was amazing. So this year, I combined 2 of my favorite desserts: Cheesecake and Trifle with a Thanksgiving twist. AND I got to teach my niece this recipe :)

Cue: Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifle

It’s super easy.

Ingredients

16 oz Cream Cheese at room temperature
15 oz Pumpkin…not the pie filling, just regular old pumpkin
2 Cups crushed vanilla wafer cookies
1 pound or angel food cake (purchase or make your own!)
2 Tbs Pumpkin Pie seasoning
2 Tbs Cinnamon
2 Cups heavy cream
1/4 Cup sugar
1 Tbs Vanilla ( I make my own!)

Get Started

Make whipped cream by mixing the heavy cream, sugar and vanilla with either a hand or stand mixer. Tip: it’s faster if you chill the bowl in the freezer for a few minutes before starting.
Clean out the mixer, and mix cream cheese until light and fluffy. Tip: The cream cheese needs to be at room temperature to work the best.
Once cream cheese is smooth, add pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon. Mix thoroughly.
Gently fold in 1/2 of the whip cream into the pumpkin/cream cheese mixture.
Lightly crush the vanilla wafers.
Cut or tear the cake into cubes.
Layer the cake, cream cheese mixture, whip cream, and sprinkle with cookies. Repeat layers until the trifle bowl is full. Top with whip cream, sprinkle with crushed cookies, and a sprinkle of cinnamon.
Chill in the refrigerator for a couple of hours before serving.

One of my favorite desserts is this same trifle, where I mix strawberry jam into the cream cheese, and layer cake, berries and/or other summer fruit, cream cheese strawberry mixture and whip cream. I bring this to our annual 4th of July party!