Trifle, Sex in a Pan, Orgasm Cake...

However you want to call it.  I've only known this dessert to be called Trifle when I first learned how to make this over 15 years ago in high school.  It's so indulgently yummy and chocolaty I can see why it can be called "Sex in a Pan" or an "Orgasm Cake" since it's better than sex or so I've been told LOL.

It's really easy to make and I usually layer this dessert neatly into a glass trifle dish bowl.  However, since I made this last night to take over to a BBQ I just used a plain ol' aluminum pan and made one layer of each ingredient.

Here's the how to:

CHOCOLATE TRIFLE
Ingredients:
1 box of devil's food cake mix
1 box of chocolate instant pudding (I used the bigger one, not sure what the size is exactly)
1 big tub of Cool Whip
4 Skor candy bars

Directions:
Bake cake according to box directions.  Prepare pudding according to package directions.  Let Cool Whip thaw out while cake is baking.  Chop up Skor candy bar into small pieces.  Once the cake is done baking and cooled down, crumble into a layer in a trifle bowl.  Layer with half of chocolate pudding, half of Cool Whip, and candy.  Repeat layer one more time with remaining ingredients.

This is how it would look like in a trifle bowl and one layered in an aluminum pan.

Making Malasadas...

Last Tuesday was Fat Tuesday and in Hawaii it's celebrated at Malasada Day.  So to celebrate in spirit I wanted to make our very own maladadas for dessert.  A malasada is a egg sized Portuguese fried doughnut coated into sugar.  I was too lazy to make it the traditional way and wait for the yeast to rise so I did the next best and easiest thing....fried up some canned biscuits. 

I haven't done this in years either and I usually just buy canned Pillsbury buttermilk biscuits, fry them in oil and coat them in sugar.  Instead buying a brand name can of biscuits, I bought the Albertson's generic brand and tried the home style biscuit version.  The buttermilk biscuits tend to have a salty after taste so I tried the home style in hopes that it makes a difference.  I had my lil booger help me out and pop open the biscuit cans, to my surprise the cans that I opened up were the ones that POPPED and made me jump.  His cans had to be forced open and didn't get to scare him like I hoped they would LOL.  Yeah, I know bad mommy wanting to scare her child ;)-

I made a sugar and cinnamon mixture instead of just the normal sugar.  Once the first batch was done cooking, coated in sugar, and cooled off it was time for a taste test.  The home style flavored biscuits made a BIG difference in flavor.  They tasted better than using buttermilk and didn't have that after taste.  Also, coating in sugar and cinnamon made the malasada taste even better.  So much that I had to close the container and walk away LOL.

Here's what our little malasada party looked like.

I Want Candy!

For the baby shower I mentioned just a bit ago I made some candy favors to giveaway.  I made White Chocolate Pretzels that have a good balance of sweet and salty.  I used to make these back home in Hawaii once in a great while and before I became a SAHM here in Oregon I used to make these as Christmas treats for my co-workers.  Since I hadn't made these in a while I figure what better time than now.  They are really easy to make and inexpensive too.  I used to eyeball the amount of ingredients but found a much better recipe from one of my local Hawaii cookbooks "Local Style: Cooking With A Mainland Flair" that was a Project Graduation 2006 for Moanalua High School.  Here's the recipe and a few pictures of the making process. Enjoy!

WHITE CHOCOLATE PRETZELS
Ingredients:
1 lb. white chocolate (I use 2-12 oz. packages of chocolate since 1 lb. seems a little dry)
10-ounce low salt, buttered pretzel sticks
2 cups Rice Krispies

Directions:
Melt chocolate in microwave bowl 6-8 minutes on defrost setting (be careful not to burn; chocolate will still look solid).

Break apart pretzels and mix with Rice Krispies.  Pour melted chocolate over pretzel-cereal mixture.  Mix well, making sure treats are covered well.  Scoop mixture, while chocolate is still hot, into baking (cupcake) cups.  Treats will harden in 10-15 minutes.

Recipe says it makes 2 dozen cups.  This last batch I made was 30 cups, it all depends how much you put into the cupcake cups.  After putting them into the cups I like to add colored sprinkles, it's all up to you what kind you put depending on the occasion that you are giving them for.

2 pkgs. white chocolate



2 cups Rice Krispies



10-ounce Pretzels broken up

White chocolate already heated in the micro...see how it still keeps it shape? Don't worry it's fine, the chips underneath are the ones that were really melted in the process.  When adding them to the cereal and pretzel mixture the rest will melt.

Everything all mixed up.



Ready for consumption.