One Cake Failure = Lemon Blueberry Trifle

True confessions day.  The lemon bundt cake I made for Sue's birthday was the second cake.  The first one was a flop because I am sooo smart, I never need to look at a recipe.  No!  I miscalculated and the first lemon bundt looked more like a half-deflated lemon tire.  I added too much canola oil and short-cut the baking time by 15 very necessary minutes. A flop.

But when life gives you flat lemon bundts, make lemon trifle!  In keeping with the quick-and-easy theme, this trifle came together in minutes, literally.  Still, it made a LUSCIOUS dessert resulting in no words, nothing but "ummm," "yummm," and from little Henry, something that sounded a little bit like "more."  No apologies here for the Cool-whip/instant pudding layer, either.  Quick and easy sometimes means that convenience items are used, and once in a while, it just isn't going to kill you.  So, if you have ten minutes and a cake failure, you can make a wonderful dessert and no one will be the wiser. 

No hideously ugly cake on hand?  You can use a store-bought pound cake (you'll need two), or actually plan (!) to make a trifle and bake your own 9x13 sheet cake to cut into chunks.  Either way, it is good to realize that a confectionary ugly duckling can transform in to the most elegant of desserts.  You can switch up flavors to suit your fancy, too.  How about chocolate cake, sweet cherries, and white chocolate filling? Yellow cake, macerated strawberries, and whipped cream?  There are so many possibilities...

LEMON BLUEBERRY TRIFLE

1 failure of a cake, in this case, lemon
1 large tub of Cool Whip, thawed or nearly thawed
1 6-serving size INSTANT vanilla pudding
3 cups milk
1 pint fresh blueberries

If you have a trifle dish, use that.  If not, a rectangular glass baking dish (9x13 or so) will do nicely.

Make filling:  In large bowl, whisk very well together Cool Whip, pudding mix, and milk.  Set aside.
Cut cake into 1-1 1/2 inch cubes (approximately), just so the chunks are bite-size.

Assemble:

Spread bottom of dish with a layer of pudding mixture.
Spread half of cake over the pudding.
Sprinkle half the blueberries over cake.
Spread half of the remaining pudding over cake.
Repeat with remaining cake, blueberries, and pudding.

Refrigerate until ready to serve.
A dollop of whipped cream might be nice.

One year ago today:  one of my favorite posts, The Beach House and Shrimp Scampi

Photo credit: http://hostedmedia.reimanpub.com/TOH/Images/Photos/37/exps12386_QC10118_C37.jpg