All American Trifle

You must think I'm trifle crazy. The funny thing is, I actually am. The difference between this week's trifle and the one a few weeks ago is that this one is super low-calorie. The one before is anything but. Just like all Pickett's Pearls recipes this trifle has 4 ingredients and is super easy to make.

My July 4th plan is to serve the watermelon pizza (from last week's blog) during the main part of the meal and this trifle for dessert! Aren't I patriotic with all my red, white and blue food! Here's what you'll need:

1 angel food cake

1 large pkg. of vanilla pudding mix (Sugar-free if you'd like.)

2-12 oz. cartons of whipped topping

4-6 oz. pkgs. of raspberries or 2 large cartoons of strawberries

Optional:  (to make trifle festive) 2-6 oz. pkgs. of blueberries or blackberries

*To make trifle a bit more adult. Mix 1/2 cup of Grand Marnier or Triple Sec into the raspberry puree.

Puree 1/2 the red berries in a bullet or food processor. Next mix with a hand-mixer the pudding mix, 1/2 cup of frozen whipped topping and 1 1/2 cups of iced cold water for about 2 min. or until thick.

Start by layering the bottom of a glass dish with pieces of angel food cake. Next spoon half of the berry puree onto the angel food cake layer. You then spoon on a layer of pudding. Next add a layer of both red and blue berries and finally the whipped topping. Repeat all five steps, then decorate the top however you want. (Serves 10 to 12)

Cooking Tidbit: The difference between an English Trifle and an American Trifle is the liqueur poured on top of the cake layer. (In other words, the English trifle is a bit more fun:)

Solving The Mystery

Now that we are on the subject of berries, Let's talk about the fruits that are best to buy organic and those that we don't need to buy organic. It costs more to buy organic, but it is worth it! It seems that the fruits that have a more permeable skin absorb more pesticides, and those with a thicker skin absorb less. The common ones are apples, berries of all kinds, grapes, peaches and nectarines. If we do get these fruits non-organic, then we need to wash the heck of them!

On the other hand the more common fruits that we don't need to buy organic are pineapples, mangoes, grapefruits, kiwis, cantaloupes, watermelons and avocados.  (Yay! My family is obsessed with avocados! As a matter of fact, Abbey said the one thing she would want with her on a desert island would be avocados.)

Buy organic:

No need to buy organic: