Chocolate Trifle & Fluffy Raspberry Dream Cake {Yum!}

Thanks to Duncan Hines for sponsoring my writing. There's no limit to the baking possibilities, so grab your favorite Duncan Hines mix and Comstock or Wilderness fruit fillings and Bake On! www.duncanhines.com.

Last week I went to a great Christmas party....girlfriends, yummy dinner and loads of desserts. It is such a crazy busy time of year, but there's nothing like taking a breather and getting together with friends and having chocolate. Right? So, what did I bring to the party? My favorite dessert of all time, of course....

Beautiful Heavenly Chocolate Trifle

1 Duncan Hines Devil's Food Cake (yep. Duncan Hines all the way. Moist Chocolaty Perfection)
1 big box of Jello chocolate pudding
A carton of cool-whip
6 Heath Bars, crushed (or since Wal-mart doesn't carry individual Heath bars and I don't want to make one more stop to some place that does...I just buy the fun-size bag of Heath bars. It costs less, too. It is a pain to smoosh the candy bars and unwrap them though...)

Make the yummy cake according to the box directions. Make the jello. You crushed the candy bars, right? (This is a great job for kids....lay out the bars, hand them the meat tenderizer...on the smooth size...and let them go to town.)

Now just layer it. Half of the cake first (I grab handfuls and drop them into the trifle dish), half of the pudding, half of the cool-whip and then half of the crushed Heath bars. (see? isn't this easy?) Then repeat. Cake, pudding, cool-whip and Heath bars. I like to reserve a handful of cake crumbs to put on the top of the trifle with the Heath bars.

Now, I know this Chocolate Trifle dessert is everywhere. But still, it surprises me how many people don't know how to make it. Chickadees! It's so easy!

And, wow. It's like a Looney Tunes cartoon when I walk in with one of these things. Everyone's eyes grow as round as dinner plates. I could probably lure people out of town with one of these babies. Like the Chocolate Pied Piper. It is definitely my favorite dessert to take anywhere. It's easy, tastes divine and looks super impressive.

So many friends came up to tell me how much they loved it! One even said if she'd known it was there she wouldn't have gotten anything else. She'd just have covered her plate with trifle, but she noticed it too late!

Okay, so what is better than one great dessert? Well, duh. Two, of course!

We tried a new cake recipe today. I got the idea from The Frugal Girls (although I've changed the recipe title a bit...yep I added the word Dream in there. When you see how easy this is you'll understand.)

Look at that rosy color! Wouldn't this be perfect for a holiday get-together?

Ok. So, this is crazy, but all you need is 2 ingredients. I know you're thinking, what? No. Way. (or maybe not. Maybe you're thinking about tacos or pickles or wondering why we don't have hover cars yet. I know, right? It's almost 2012. I totally thought we'd have those by now.)

Fluffy Raspberry Dream Cake

1 Duncan Hines Angel Food Cake mix
1 can Wilderness Raspberry pie filling

Mix ingredients together. Yep. That's it. Step away from the oil, water and eggs. It's just the powder and fruit. This is such a great dessert for kids to make all by themselves!

Zoe had a great time stirring it up. It turned the cake mix into a lovely shade of pink. And don't you love how her baby sis is watching so intently? I wonder what she's thinking? (Hmmmmm, how long would it take me to smear this all over myself, the walls, the kitchen and the couch?)

Pour into a 9x13 baking dish.

Bake at 350 for about 25-30 minutes. Now because this dessert was so easy, you probably have some time on your hands... go wrap some presents or dance around to Christmas carols or spend some time licking the spoon....

No eggs which means you can lick that spoon until your heart's content. 

We enjoyed this cake with a dollop of cool-whip on top. Most of the family enjoyed it. My picky dessert eater didn't like the spongy texture. He is really a soggy moist cake kind of boy, instead.

Now I've mentioned two easy dessert ideas. But what if you have only mere minutes to throw something together before your friends come over for some holiday fun? Or what if you have to run into the house, whip something up and then head back out the door?  Then you have to try this....

Duncan Hines' Apple Caramel Cake. Am I the only one who heard the choir of angels singing? Decadent, indeed. This stuff is so amazing. Everything, but the oil, eggs and water, is right there in the box. And it makes a 9x13 cake! Not a measly 'ole 9 inch square cake like a lot of these kind of mixes. Yep, you can throw this dessert together and get back to your holiday fun in a flash.

Remember to check out Duncan Hines' website www.duncanhines.com to find some great recipes for your holiday get-together! I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective.