Chocolate-Peanut Butter Trifle

Chocolate cake.
Chocolate sauce.
Peanut butter whipped cream.
Whipped cream.
Layer.
Repeat.

That's about all you need to know to salivate over this masterpiece, who, unfortunately, I didn't capture super well on camera.

Oh, but you should also know that, of course, the layers all meld together into creamy chocolate-peanut butter wonderfulness that only the crazy chocolate-haters or peanut butter-haters can resist.

One more selling point: all the Chocolate-Peanut Butter Trifle recipes in internet land sent up food snob red flags for me with their instant vanilla pudding, so I opted for the fluffy, creamy peanut butter pie filling I love and good old fashioned whipped up whipping cream. I only cheated by using box cake mix.


And one final, final point: trifles are time consuming but also pretty impossible not to make an impressive presentation. It was by far the winner of my dessert for our annual Fourth of July family gathering weekend of 18.

If you like chocolatey trifles, you should try this simple Brownie Trifle or Tiramisu Toffee Trifle Pie. And if you like more fruity trifles, try Peach Trifle or just make up your own layers of cakey stuff and creamy stuff.


Chocolate-Peanut Butter Trifle

Cake:
1 box devil's food cake mix with ingredients called for on box

Chocolate Sauce:
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. cocoa
1/2 cup milk

Peanut Butter Cream:

1 cup smooth peanut butter

2 cups heavy cream, divided

1  cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Whipping Cream:

2 cups heavy cream

1/2 cup powdered sugar

Topping:

6-8 Reeses miniature, chopped

Prepare all layers as noted below. (I baked the cake the night before.)

For cake, prepare according to package instructions. Bake in a 9x13-inch pan. Cool completely.

For chocolate sauce, combine all ingredients in a medium sauce pan. Bring to a boil and cook 3-5 minutes or until thickened. Cook slightly.

For peanut butter cream, place peanut butter in a bowl. In a separate bowl, combine cream, powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat on medium high until peaks form, about a minute and a half. Stir half of cream mixture into peanut butter. Transfer this mixture back into cream mixture and beat on medium high just until incorporated.

For whipping cream, place cream and powdered sugar in a bowl. Beat on medium high until thickened to a whipped cream consistency.

To prepare trifle, cut cake into pieces. Arrange about 1/4 of pieces in the bottom of a trifle bowl. Drizzle 1/3 of chocolate sauce on the cake. Spread 1/2 peanut butter filling on top of the cake and sauce. Spread 1/3 whipping cream on top of peanut butter layer. Repeat layers of cake, sauce, peanut butter cream and whipped cream two more times. Top with Reeses. Refrigerate at least 4 hours. Serve cold.