There are many variations of the trifle, with no one being “the only way” to do it. Traditionally they’ve been made with sponge cake, pudding or custard, and fruit, though more contemporary trifles also contain gelatin, liquor and whipped cream.

One of the more modern methods of creating a trifle uses the convenience of prepackaged cake mixes and whipped topping. If you don’t have a lot of time but still want to “wow” your guests or family, try this easy version of a chocolate trifle the next time you’ve got a dessert assignment:

Easy Chocolate Trifle
from cooks.com

1 pkg. chocolate cake mix
1/2 c. strawberry preserves
1 c. sliced strawberries
1 (4 oz.) container Cool Whip
1 (3.5 oz.) pkg. chocolate instant pudding

~ Heat oven to 350 degrees.

~ Grease and flour rectangular pan, 13 x 9 inch. Bake and cool cake. Cut into halves. Freeze half for future use.

~ Cut remaining cake half into 1 inch pieces. Arrange half in 3 quart glass serving bowl.

~ Spoon 1/4 cup preserves over pieces; sprinkle with 1/2 cup strawberries. Spread with 1 cup whipped topping.

~ Repeat with remaining cake pieces, preserves, strawberries, and whipped topping.

~ Refrigerate until chilled. Prepare pudding. Spread over trifle. Refrigerate 4 hours. Serve cold.

[image: flickr]

Post from: Chocolate Bytes

Translated from French, pots de crème means “pots of cream.” It’s a French dessert of a usually baked then chilled custard served in small dishes, or ramekins. It’s traditionally made with eggs, cream, milk and vanilla, and chocolate is easily added.

The video above shows you how to make a version of chocolate pots de crème using chocolate chips, egg substitute, vanilla and scalded cream. The ingredients are placed in a blender and blended until smooth. The mixture is then poured into ramekins and refrigerated — no baking required! It’s arguable that this is a pot de creme at all instead of just a basic pudding, but if you don’t feel like turning on an oven, it’s a great substitute.

Chocolate Pot de Crème

1 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup egg substitute (Egg Beaters)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup half and half

Place chocolate chips, egg substitute and vanilla extract in a blender. Scald half and half in a pan until bubbles form around the edge. Pour half and half over ingredients in the blender and blend for 20-25 seconds or until smooth. Pour mixture into ramekins and refrigerate for 4-6 hours before serving.

For more traditional methods of making pots de crème, check out:

~ Chocolate Chile Pots de Crème
~ Gale Gand’s Chocolate Pots de Crème
~ Chocolate Pots de Crème

Post from: Chocolate Bytes

First off, pictures of pudding – especially rice pudding – never do the recipe justice.

Anyway, this week’s Tuesdays with Dorie was Black and White Rice Pudding (actually chocolate and vanilla!). I split mine in two batches, as was suggested in the recipe, because I knew my husband would appreciate the vanilla while the kids would devour the chocolate.

I’m also glad I read up on the Q&A for the recipe, otherwise I too would have ended up with rice soup instead of pudding and would have wondered what I’d done wrong!

I stirred the pudding every five minutes for about 50 minutes and it turned out perfectly. I didn’t put the full 1-1/2 teaspoons of vanilla in the white pudding because my husband likes it plain, but I may have put a little extra chocolate in the other one.

Maybe just a little.

Post from: Chocolate Bytes

Yay, it’s National Chocolate Pudding Day! You can even send an e-card.

I’ll admit that I have yet to make pudding from scratch. I’ve always used a packet for either the cooked type or instant, and of course they’ve always turned out great. But here is a recipe for making your own instant pudding mix!

Instant Chocolate Pudding Mix
3 ounces Dutch-processed cocoa, approximately 1 cup
2 ounces cornstarch, approximately 1/2 cup
6 ounces confectioners’ sugar, approximately 1 1/2 cups
1 1/2 ounces instant non-fat dry milk, approximately 1/2 cup
1 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl or plastic container with a lid, combine the cocoa, cornstarch, sugar, instant non-fat dry milk, and salt. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 month. Yield: 3 1/2 cups dry mix.

Preparation
1 3/4 cups Instant Chocolate Pudding Mix, recipe follows
2 cups milk
2 cups heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place 1 3/4 cups of dry pudding mix into a medium saucepan. Add milk and heavy cream and whisk to combine. Over medium heat, bring mixture to a boil, continuously whisking gently. Reduce heat to low and cook for 4 minutes while continuing to whisk. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Pour the mixture through a sieve and into individual dishes or a 1 1/2-quart serving dish. Cover the surface of the pudding with plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator to chill completely before serving, approximately 4 hours.

[image: sxc]

Post from: Chocolate Bytes

I’ve spent a lot of time over at MonkeySee, which was recommended to us by Sandy. It’s so much more professional than Youtube, and a lot of the videos are split up into segments so you can see just the parts you want or need to!

Anyway, I came across these quick videos on how to make and assemble “dirt cups.” With summer break starting next week I want to start spending some more time in the kitchen with my daughters to get them started on some of the basics, and I think something fun like this will really appeal to them!

I think these would also be yummy after ten or so minutes in the freezer on an especially hot day!

Post from: Chocolate Bytes

This guest post was written by my friend Adrith:

…..

I have loved a cold glass of chocolate milk ever since I was a little girl. One of the few things that truly dismayed me about my developing lactose intolerance was the idea of giving that up.

I’ve been a picky eater about as long as I’ve loved chocolate milk. When my husband suggested I try soymilk, I thought he was out of his mind. But going without for long enough found me standing at a coffee shop on Fort Campbell, buying a single-serving carton of Silk chocolate soymilk and thinking that the worst that could happen was that I would be out my $1.50.

It wasn’t bad!

The Silk website has a section called “Cooking with Soy” that has some really delicious looking dessert recipes (I particularly want to try the chocolate pudding, as pudding is one of those things that is tricky for me). The 8th Continent site, at the time of this writing, has a $1.00 off coupon for anyone who might be, like I was, reluctant to try it.

…..

[image via Adrith. Thanks, Adrith!]

Post from: Chocolate Bytes