White Chocolate Covered Strawberry Trifle!

I love trifles, because even if you are not an expert baker, you can turn out a pretty dessert that gets oohs and ahs.  Baking and I have an on and off relationship...sometimes I bake a cake and it behaves beautifully, but sometimes I bake one and nothing goes right.   Does anybody else have that happen?  Usually, when things go crazy with a cake, it's when I am supposed to be taking it someplace or having company for dinner or whatever.   When it goes wrong like that, I cut it up and make a trifle out of it. Nobody knows the difference and sometimes it's actually better than the cake would have been.  This dessert was intended to be a trifle, but I did think about a cake in the beginning.

Here is what you will need for this trifle:

Strawberry cake mix,  eggs, strawberries, whipped cream, cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk, oil, white chocolate pudding mix.  Also semi sweet chocolate chips and white chocolate chips for dipping strawberries.

Mix the ingredients for the strawberry cake and bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for 30-33 minutes.  A toothpick inserted in the middle should come out clean when done.  Set aside to cool completely.  The recipe calls for water, but a tip from my mother is to always replace the water with Sprite (or any clear carbonated beverage).  It makes the cake mix lighter and more flavorful.  Also, don't mix with an electric mix or over beat it.  Use a wire whisk and mix just until it is mixed thoroughly.  This makes the cake moister.

Beat softened cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk together.  Add vanilla flavoring, pudding mix and a cup of milk and beat until incorporated.  Fold in half of the whipped cream. 

Cut the cake in about 1" squares and slice 2 cups of strawberries.  Layer 1/2 the cake cubes, 1/2 the pudding mixture, and 1/2 of the sliced strawberries, then repeat.  Finish the top with the rest of the whipped cream.  Cover and chill for about 3- 4 hours.  While it chills make the chocolate covered strawberries.

Rinse and drain the biggest, best strawberries.  Lay them on paper towels to dry.  You will need to change the paper towels to get all of the water off of them.   It's very important when dipping strawberries in chocolate that they not have any water at all on them.  If even a drop of water gets in your chocolate it will ruin it.  If you are using cold strawberries out of the refrigerator, let them sit out and come to room temperature before dipping.  If they are cold and condensation forms, the chocolate will not stick.

Place 6 oz. white chips and 6 oz. dark chips in two separate glass bowls with 1Tbs. of shortening in each.  Microwave on high for 30 seconds.  Stir and microwave 30 more seconds.  You can use real butter also, but the shortening makes the strawberries shinier and the consistency is better.

Dip the half of the strawberries in dark chocolate and half in white chocolate.  Drizzle the berries with the opposite color with a spoon.  Place these in the refrigerator to harden. 

I wait until I am read to serve the trifle to put the berries on top along with white chocolate shavings.  I took the left over white chocolate and poured it on nonstick foil, let it harden up and then used it to make my white chocolate shavings for the top.

Ingredients:

Cake layer:

1 box strawberry cake mix

3 eggs

3/4 cup water or Sprite

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup chopped strawberries

Pudding layer:

White chocolate instant pudding mix

1 can sweetened condensed milk

8 oz. cream cheese

1tsp. vanilla flavoring

16 oz whipped cream (1/2 for pudding layer and 1/2 for top)

1 cup milk

2 cups sliced strawberries (between the layers)

Chocolate covered strawberries:

6 oz. white chocolate chips

6 oz semi sweet chocolate chips.

2 Tbs. shortening

You will need about 2 quarts of strawberries for this recipe.