Spumoni Trifle (attempt no. 1)

My family and I created a recipe which was inspired by a banana trifle.  We eat fresh bananas, but that's where our love of the fruit ends, so we seriously tweaked the recipe.  It turned out quite delicious. So now I'm sharing it with you.

You will need:

1. Heavy Whipping Cream
2. Powdered Sugar
3. Milk
4. Two packages of Jello brand Chocolate Pudding
5. One package of Strawberry Cake Mix
6. Two jars of Maraschino Cherries
7. Grenadine
8. Rum
9. Eggs
10. Oil (vegetable/olive/grape)
11. Large bag of Pistachios
12. 9 in x 13 in Cake Pan
13. Wooden Spoon
14. Electric Mixer or Blender that can whip

This recipe is made in many stages, so start in the morning if you want it for dinner.  For less stress, I just made half one night, let it set in the fridge and finished it off the next day.

Put in mixing bowl the amount of eggs and oil required for the cake.  Then put two tablespoons of grenadine in your measuring cup.  Fill the cup to amount of water the mix calls for and mix it in with the eggs and oil.

Rough chop 12 oz (by weight), roughly one and a half jars, of the cherries.  Discard the corn syrup that they are stored in.

Mix the dry cake mix into the wet ingredients, only enough to get all the powder wet.  DO NOT OVER MIX. Then gently stir in the chopped cherries.

Cook cake in the 9 x 13 pan according to the directions on the box. When it is done, set in on a cooling rack to cool a little. It need not reach room temperature.

After 30 minutes poke holes in long rows all over the cake with the back of the wooden spoon.

Using the same technique as with the water for the cake pour two ounces of rum into a measuring cup.  Fill the rest of the way with the required amount of milk, boil and mix with pudding powder.  I used instant set pudding and it turned out fine, but I will use the regular next time so the flavors blend better.  I also believe that the chocolate might seep into the cake a little bit better that way.

Once the pudding is mixed, pour it over the cake, cover with foil and put it in the fridge to set.  Do not be impatient.  It is important that the pudding set firm.

When the pudding is set, you can place halved cherries across the pudding if you really like a lot of cherry flavor.

Mix one quart of heavy whipping cream with 1/4 cup of powdered sugar and whip until stiff peaks form.  You'll want an electric mixer for this.  It makes the job so much faster. Smooth the whipped cream on top of the pudding layer and generously sprinkle chopped pistachios over the top.  If you leave the trifle in the fridge for another couple of hours before serving, the cherry and pistachio flavors will seep into the whipped cream a little.  But feel free to serve right away.

This recipe makes a huge desert.  My family ate it for desert three days in a row and each had a treat on one day.  That makes 16 servings total, and for me, the servings were a little big.  But oh, it was so yummy.  I will be tweaking the recipe just a little next time.  If it comes out better or at least just as good.  I will share that info.