With a new season of events and holidays upon us I thought it would be fun to add this quick, easy, crowd-pleaser to your list of options. I call it a Trifle.

Technically a Trifle is a beautiful layered dessert with sponge cake, custard and fruit…but I ramped up the sugar (and pure joy) by replacing those ingredients with brownies, mousse and candy. You’re welcome.

1) Find a buddy and make a box of brownie mix. I recommend the family size that fills a 13×9 pan.

 

2) Make a box of instant pudding. I prefer using the larger box (5.85 oz.) which requires 3 cups of milk, as opposed the usual size that calls for 2 cups of milk.

Let the pudding set in the refrigerator. Which takes 5 minutes.

Make the pudding in a bigger bowl so that it’s ready for Step 3.

 

3) Add 1 container (8 0z.) of whipped topping directly to the pudding bowl. FOLD the pudding and whipped topping gently. This creates the “mousse” layer.

4) Cut the brownies into small squares. (If you think there is a missing row of brownies in the picture, you are correct. That would be after-school snack…and perhaps some taste testing.)

 

 

4) Assemble! Use half of the brownies to cover the bottom of your serving dish. I like to use my glass bowl so you can see all of the delicious layers.

After the brownies, add half of the mousse.

Then sprinkle with about 1-1.5 cups of candy. In the recipe pictured I used peanut butter candies. But the possibilities are endless. Scroll to the end to see my other favorite flavor combinations.

I usually add a drizzle of a dessert topping as well, here I did peanut butter topping. Tip: don’t bother buying the peanut butter topping, just melt peanut butter and drizzle away. Learn from my mistakes.

 

5) Repeat! My glass serving dish is large so I only can get 2 layers with this recipe. However this obviously depends on the dish, so you do you with the layering.

 

 

6) Your masterpiece is complete. I’ve never taken pictures of this dessert before so I’m finding it less and less attractive. But it’s like one of those animals that are so ugly that there’s something appealing about it. Like a hairless cat. No?

 

 

7) Enjoy. This dessert is so rich and indulgent that you just have to go for it. It’s VERY filling and goes far in a crowd.

I was going to post a picture of the empty bowls after my husband assisted me in this Trifle-blog production, but I was delirious from the sugar rush and forgot.

For a quick reference, here is the list of ingredients:

1 box brownie mix (look for family size, 13×9)

1 box instant pudding (look for larger box, 5.85 oz.; requires 3 cups milk)

1 container whipped topping from the freezer aisle (look for 8 oz. container; which is the “regular” size). Make sure this is thawed before you start cooking!

2-3 cups candy (chop if needed so that it’s bite sized)

Drizzle of dessert topping of choice (chocolate, caramel, peanut butter, etc.)

Favorite variations: The variations are endless, choose your own adventure –

1. Brownie; chocolate pudding; chocolate/mint candies
2. Brownie; vanilla pudding; chocolate sandwich cookies (“Cookies and Cream”)
3. Brownie; vanilla pudding; toffee/chocolate candies
4. Blondies; butterscotch pudding; butterscotch chips
5. Oatmeal cookie blondies; butterscotch pudding; butterscotch chips