"This tastes like Christmas"...

Those where the words of my little 5 year old neighbor "T" when he took his first bite of this dessert, and I couldn't have said it better myself. If you're looking for a dessert to get you in the holiday spirit, this is it.

When I was asked to submit a recipe for the Utah Valley Magazine Holiday Dessert feature, I debated between this dessert and my Cranberry Orange Cheesecake. The Cheesecake won out, only because someone else had already done something with pumpkin and I didn't want to 'over do' the pumpkin thing. But this dessert really does take the cake...takes it and makes it into a trifle...he..he..he.



CARAMEL APPLE PUMPKIN TRIFLE
(Mindi Original)

For the Cake:
1 C. sugar
1 ½ C. flour
1 ½ t. baking powder
1 ½ t. baking soda
2 t. cinnamon
1 t. nutmeg
¼ t. allspice
¼ t. cloves
1 t. salt
¾ C. vegetable oil
1 (15 oz.) can of pumpkin
2 large eggs

For the Caramel apple sauce:
4 C. diced apple (I use a combination of granny smith & Macintosh, but use what ever are your favorite.)
2 C. apple juice or apple cider
2 C. brown sugar, packed
4 T. cornstarch
6 T. heavy cream or evaporated milk
3 T. butter
½ t. salt

1 extra large tub of cool whip or 6 C. whipped cream

To make the cake:
1. Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan or line it with parchment paper.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients including; sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, and salt. Mix with a whisk until well incorporated.
3. In a large mixing bowl combine the vegetable oil, pumpkin, and eggs. Mix on medium speed until well incorporated.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
6. Bake the cake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35-45 minutes.
7. Remove the pan and allow to cool completely on a wire rack, about ½ hour. When the cake is somewhat cool, invert it onto a flat surface. Allow to cool completely.
8. Cut the cake into 1” squares and set aside.

For the Caramel Sauce:
1. In a small bowl whisk together the brown sugar, cornstarch and salt.
2. In a large sauce pan add the apples and apple juice. Bring to a boil over high heat. Allow to boil for 1 minute then reduce heat to simmer and allow to simmer for another 3-4 minutes or until the apples soften.
3. Add the brown sugar mix, cream and butter. Bring to a boil again over medium-high heat. Reduce heat slightly and allow to boil for 5-10 minute or until sauce has thickened to the consistency of an ‘ice-cream topping’ sauce.
4. Remove the sauce from the heat and allow to cool at room temperature for about an hour. (You can make the sauce a day ahead of time and store it in the refrigerator overnight. Be sure the sauce has cooled completely before putting it into the refrigerator.)

To assemble the Trifle:
Layer the ingredients in the Trifle bowl, as follows:

1/3 of the cake cubes
1/3 of the caramel apple sauce
1/3 of the Cool Whip or whipped cream
1/3 of the cake cubes
1/3 of the caramel apple sauce
1/3 of the Cool Whip or whipped cream
The rest of the cake cubes
The rest of the caramel apple sauce
Top with a Cool Whip or whipped cream
Garnish with a dusting of cinnamon and cinnamon sticks

* When making this dessert I purposely chose to use Cool Whip over whipped cream, not because it’s easier, even though it is easier. I chose the Cool Whip for its lightness. The pumpkin cake and caramel apple sauce are so rich that I thought whipped cream would really send it over the edge of richness. The Cool Whip lightens it up a bit and compliments it very nicely. However, if you are a big fresh whipped cream fan, feel free to try it. I’m sure it would still taste very good and really decadent.

**For a super easy substitution you could also use store bought pumpkin bread or cake from your local bakery. For those of you that live here in Utah, Kneaders Pumpkin Bread would be awesome. You would probably need at least 3 loaves.