How to create a fabulous trifle:

Create a recipe for a chai spice bundt cake by combining 462 billion different cake recipes you like, and turn it into 1 cake.

Bake the bundt without coating the pan with any kind of nonstick spray or butter and flour. That stuff’s overrated anyway.

Cake sticks to pan, surprise surprise.

Curse, 40 times, half of which I say out loud. Good thing the baby doesn’t repeat what I say yet.

Peel the cake crumbles from the pan, but refuse to throw it away because it tastes WAY too good.

Rack your brain with ways to use the mounds of crumbled cake I now have spread out on my counter tops.

Trifle.

THIS is how trifles were invented.

The end.

Why a blended cottage cheese in the cake? I wanted to try a ricotta cake, but I didn’t have ricotta. I wondered what would happen if I blended up some cottage cheese to make it smoother, like ricotta. Results = WONDERFUL! It gets really smooth and creamy and simply divine. Yes, cottage cheese can be divine. If you don’t have cottage cheese, try ricotta, or maybe even yogurt or buttermilk, or just milk. I don’t know how it will turn out, but, no matte what the case, it’ll probably be perfectly suitable for a trifle.

The trifle has 3 parts:
Chai Pound Cake
Whipped cream cheese
Vanilla pudding

All of the recipes are below.

Chai Pound Cake
Makes 1 tube cake or 2 loaf cakes (you only need half of the recipe (1 loaf) for the trifle)
time: 75 minutes

Ingredients
2 sticks butter
3 cups sugar
2 cups cottage cheese (I used low fat)
6 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
3 tsp cinnamon
3 tsp cardamom
2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

GREASE a bundt/tube pan (or 2 loaf pans) with non stick spray, or butter and flour. THIS IS IMPORTANT. Or not.

Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl for about 1 minute. Add in the eggs 1 at a time. Add the vanilla.

Puree the cottage cheese in a blender until it is about the consistency of ricotta.

In a separate bowl sift the flour, salt, baking soda, and spices.

Add the dry mix and the cottage cheese alternately to the wet mix, beginning and ending with the dry mix. Mix only until incorporated.

Pour the batter into the GREASED pan (s).

Bundt/tube: Bake for 60-70 minutes
Loaf: bake 50-60 minutes

Remove from oven, cool in pan for 15 minutes, remove and continue to cool on a wire rack.
Cool completely before assembling the trifle.
*This cake freezes really well too. Allow it to cool completely, wrap it in plastic wrap, then freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature for a few hours before serving.

Whipped Cream Cheese

Ingredients
8 ounces cream cheese (1 block)
2 cups whipping cream
1/4 cup sugar

Directions
In a stand mixer, or using a hand mixer, whip the cream cheese and sugar for about 1 minute. Add the heavy cream and increase speed to medium. Whip until soft peaks form, about 4 minutes. Store in the fridge until ready to use (use the same day though, don’t store it for too long.)

Vanilla Pudding
Recipe adapted from AllRecipes
*Next time I think I will double the pudding recipe. It was a fine amount, but the pudding was so good I wish I would have had double.

Ingredients
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups nonfat milk (or any milk you have)
2 egg yolks
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp vanilla extract (if you have a vanilla bean, that would be even better)

Directions
In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt. Gradually stir in milk. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from the heat.
Stir a small amount of hot filling into egg yolk.
*This ‘tempering’ the yolk so it doesn’t scramble.

Return all of the mixture to the pan, heat over medium/high, stirring constantly. Bring to a gentle boil then cook 1 minute longer, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat. Gently stir in butter and vanilla.

Cool for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally so it doesn’t get a film layer. Pour into a dish and refrigerate.
At this point you can use it to assemble the trifle.

Trifle Assembly:
Crumble (in large chunks or cubes) half of the cake on the bottom of a trifle dish or glass bowl)
Pour half of the pudding over the cake, then scoop half of the whipped cream cheese over the pudding.
*I like to spoon the ingredients as close to the edge as I can so the side of the bowl have pretty layers that are you can see when you present the trifle.
Repeat the layers, sprinkle with cinnamon,
Refrigerate until ready to serve. Can be made up to 3 days ahead of time.