Vanilla-Coconut Trifle

I offered to bake my friend's son's egg-free birthday cake and tried a new cake recipe. I ended up with a BIG disaster. The "mess-up cake" had a terrible, bumpy texture and it was more like biscuit than cake. The taste wasn't so terribly bad that it was inedible...it just didn't pass my high standards to serve as birthday "cake." I ditched this lumpy cake and went back to a vanilla cupcake recipe that I knew was delicious.

Not at all what I expected!

Because my "mess-up cake" tasted tasted OK, I wracked my brain to see if it was worth saving or if I should just trash it. I decided to salvage it because of the serving possibilities: 1- topped with fresh berries, 2- with frosting or whipped cream, 3- warmed up and served with vanilla ice cream, or 4- cut into little pieces and served in trifle. Once I realized I this, I cut it into eighths and froze it. 

Last week, we had lunch with friends and I offered to take dessert. This was the perfect opportunity to make trifle and use some of my "mess-up cake." It was so delicious with the vanilla-coconut whipped cream and fruit. Fabulous flavors for sure!

The combination of flavors was DEEEEEELISH!

Vanilla-Coconut Trifle

Yield: 8-10 servings

Ingredients:

• 2 c heavy whipping cream
• 1- 14oz can light coconut milk
• 1- 5.1oz box Jello instant vanilla pudding mix
• 2 c sweetened, shredded coconut
• 2 bananas, sliced
• 3 c blueberries
• 4 c cake (angel food, pound cake, ladyfingers, or in my case, mess-up cake!)

Directions:

1. In large mixing bowl, whip together heavy whipping cream, coconut milk and pudding mix until thickened. Add shredded coconut and mix some more. I made this a day in advance to let the flavors mingle.
2. Assemble ingredients in trifle bowl (or glass mixing bowl if you don't own one) or individual serving bowls. I would prefer to use small, clear dessert bowls (looks nice when served intact), but since I took it to a friend's house, I opted for one big bowl for easy transport. Layer whipped cream mixture, bananas, blueberries and cake. Repeat with remaining ingredients.
3. Chill before serving. 

Source: Inspired by Art of Dessert's Ambrosia Salad