Delicious Desserts: Chocolate Trifle

Our house has 2 nights designated for desserts--Monday night, which is our dedicated family night with special family activities; and Friday night, which is the "finally the weekend is here & we can relax!" night.  The kids always look forward to dessert night, making sure to remind me so I don't forget.

I admit that I look forward to our dessert nights, too.  I try to steer clear of desserts that are heavy and rich, partly so my hips will thank me, and partly to keep the kids' teeth from rotting with so much sugar! LOL  But mostly to keep things at least semi-healthy without sacrificing taste.

Earlier this year, I bought some Spring-themed chocolate chip morsels that were marked down at a rock-bottom price (I paid about $1.20 per bag, which is about as low as it goes in my neck of the woods).  I've tried coming up with some creative ways to using them, and decided to try them as part of the frosting for a cake.

I'm not a big fan of traditional cake frosting.  When I do have cake, I usually prefer to go without any frosting.  When I do frost a cake, I'll use some melted butter and cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top.  Or whipped topping.

I happened to have some whipped topping in the fridge and decided to make a cake for our dessert night.

Not just any cake--a trifle cake!  Which I've never made before, to be honest.  I had an idea in my head of what I wanted to do and put together the following version, which the kids drooled over and said was really, really good.  After taste-testing myself, I had to agree that it was delicious and without the weighty, heavy, sugary taste that usually accompanies a cake!

Chocolate Trifle

Ingredients:
1 box chocolate cake mix, prepared (I used Betty Crocker Chocolate Fudge)
1 - 3.4 oz instant banana pudding mix
2 cups milk
8 oz whipped topping
chocolate chip morsels
caramel syrup ice cream topping

Directions:
Cut cake into 1-2-inch size chunks.  Place half of cake chunks into bottom of large bowl.  Prepare pudding according to package directions, using 2 cups milk.  Layer 1/2 prepared banana pudding, then 1/2 whipped topping, then some chocolate morsels and a little caramel syrup on top.  Repeat all layers.  Chill or serve immediately.