Sand Cake Trifle

It’s official!  Summer has arrived.  With the Memorial Day kick off yesterday, summer has begun.  I’m gladly welcoming the sandy beach days, cool summer treats, and evening picnics under the stars.

To kick off the summer season, I made a sand cake dessert for a barbeque yesterday.  Requiring no cooking, this light dessert is perfect for a hot and humid afternoon because you don’t have to heat up an oven. Although it  is traditionally served in a sand bucket, I’m not sure how food safe the bucket is.  Instead, I decided to adapt the dessert into a layered trifle and use my deep serving dish.  I liked seeing the different layers of the dessert.  And in the early summer heat we had this weekend, the sand cake was quite refreshing after filling up on hot dogs and pasta salad.

Sand Cake Trifle

adapted from Real Simple recipe

Estimated Time: Minimum – about 30 minutes

You Will Need:

1 box of Vanilla Wafers

1 8 ounce container of Cool Whip

6 ounces of cream cheese – softened

1 small box (3 1/4 ounces) of instant vanilla pudding mix

1 1/2 cups of milk

1 teaspoon of vanilla

Trifle dish or large footed bowl

What To Do:

1.  Crush the vanilla wafers with a meat tenderizer or mallet in a large plastic baggie.  (Or place in the food processer.)

2.  In a large bowl, mix together Cool Whip, cream cheese, pudding mix, milk, and vanilla.

Watch for splatters!

3.    Sprinkle 1/3 of the wafer crumbs into the bottom of the trifle dish.

Top with half of the pudding mixture.

4.  Add another 1/3 of the wafer crumbs, followed by the remaining pudding mixture.  Top with the rest of the wafer crumbs.  Add any garnishes on top if desired (candy shells, rainbow sprinkles, or berries) or leave plain.  Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Make this refreshing dessert in the morning before you leave for your summertime fun and it will be the perfect finale to your hot summer day.

Happy Celebrating,

Natalie

Linking to:

Ivy Cottage Blog