For me, the kitchen feels like the heart of our home.
One whiff of my coffee brewing in the morning lifts and soothes my spirit. The sight, smell and taste of a particular recipe has the potential for such an immediate reaction, doesn’t it?
I smiled yesterday as my niece, home from college, exclaimed to her sister, “Oh, Aunt Jen’s special french toast.” My tradition of making stuffed french toast evoked a warm memory for her. There’s power in a shared meal…so let’s make it both pleasurable and memorable.
My desire for Tasty Tuesday is to encourage each other in making meal time an occasion, rather than an event. In our home, quite often it is just an event, a chore. The kids must be fed, and that’s a reality (and I admit that happened tonight as I wrote this post. 🙂
Once a week, we can spur each other on to try something new. If you’re a brand new cook or don’t have a lot of time, I’ll share lots of quick and easy meals. That’s my specialty.
If you’re a gourmet cook….please, let us learn from you.
I can’t wait to see what everyone brings to the table.
I hosted our family’s Easter Brunch and we had a
feast. The stuffed cream cheese french toast was an option,
as was the yummy pound cake, quiches, Cracker Barrel Copy Cat hash brown casserole, Homemade Cinnabon cinnamon rolls and three other breakfast casseroles. I decided on sharing my strawberry cheesecake trifle.
The reason? It’s so incredibly easy, looks beautiful (even when you goof up like I did with the layering) and tastes even better than it looks. For those of you new to my blog, I love to shop at yard sales and thrift stores. A truffle bowl is a must for your “eagle eye” list. Not only does it display food beautifully, but it’s a wonderful decorating item for floating candles, displaying ornaments at Christmas, featuring flowers…oh, the list could go on and on.
Strawberry Cheesecake Trifle
- 2 pints fresh strawberries, sliced
- 1 cup sugar (divided)
- 2 packages cream cheese, softened (8 ounces each)
- 3 tablespoons orange juice (I didn’t have any, so I substituted)
- 3 cups whipping cream, whipped
- 1 loaf (10-3/4 ounces) frozen pound cake, or better yet…homemade
- thawed and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
- 3 squares (1 ounce each) semisweet chocolate, grated
- Chocolate curls and additional strawberries (optional)
1. In a bowl, toss strawberries with 1/2 cup sugar; set aside.
2. In mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, orange juice, and remaining sugar until smooth.
3. Fold in whip cream; set aside. (now, honestly, I would have been just fine calling it a recipe at this point since the taste testing was going so well. 🙂
4. Drain strawberries, reserving juice; set the berries aside. Gently toss cake cubes with reserved juice. (I admit, my frugal nature got the best of me. I used 2 packages of Martha White pound cake muffin mix that I had gotten free with my coupons, and used those. My son cut them up and they were triangles, not cubes.)
5. Place half of the cake in a 4 qt. trifle dish or serving bowl. Top with a third of the cream cheese mixture, half of the strawberries, and half of the grated chocolate ( I also didn’t have the chocolate, so as much as I mourned its loss…it’s optional.)
6. Repeat layers. Top with remaining cream cheese mixture.
7. Garnish with chocolate curl and strawberries if desired.
8. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours. (This allows the flavors to blend, but I made this minutes before the guests came, so I estimate it was about two hours. )
Chocolate curls on top of desserts just scream, “You are special,” but what’s a lady to do when she doesn’t have any long chocolate bars? Have your son donate one small Hershey bite size candy bar that he had in his Easter candy stash and improvise. Small, but meaningful. 🙂
My tip for attempting chocolate curls? Make sure you freeze the chocolate bar a bit before attempting. Although the ramification wasn’t too bad. Someone had to do it.
Dig in and enjoy. But beware, it’s goes really fast!
oh yay! You’re up! Too bad I have no tasties to share. Yours look divine.
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Jen, that looks amazing! I love trifles. I will definitely be making that sometime soon.
How exciting that you are hosting Tasty Tuesday now. I’m looking forward to linking up every week. 🙂
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That looks so yummy! Good bye diet! 🙂
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It’s late, I almost linked into Mr. Linky! But since we have no food post that wouldn’t have worked.
Kim and I are glad to see that Tasty Tuesday lives on! Have fun!
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I have made a trifle recipe that is almost identical to this one. You are right, it is fast, easy, and amazingly delicious!
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Thanks for hosting!
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Amazing treat, my wife will make some of this at some point…. thanks
you make http://www.zcouple.com really get hungry..
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I love the look of a trifle! Beauty!
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We love trifle around here, the idea of using cream cheese is a nice twist!
Toni
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I have LOVED all the recipes I’ve collected since becoming a blogger. Think I’ll be adding this one to the collection.
Now I must.go.find.trifle.bowl….. 🙂
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I love the Tasty Tuesday party. Some really wonderful posts. Unfortunately, I didn’t post as I’d planned. This week we went out to dinner for Easter and my intention was to post some pics of our favorite dishes at our favorite restuarant. I especially wanted to show my favorite “Sizzelin’ Steak” which the restaurant is famous for. I mean they bring it out SIZZELING, and it is delish! Well, off I went with my camera and all my good intentions and before I knew it we were eating and having such a nice time that the only pictures I got were of half eaten dinners (they were kind of funny, you may have gotten a laugh).
So, we certainly did have an occassion. We enjoyed our meal and I put the camera away after they made fun of me to the point of torture. We ate laughed and had a very lovely family afternoon.
I hope I can come up with something for next weeks Tasty Tuesday Event. I actually can cook…lol.
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Those all look amazing.
Do I need to give you my address for shipping purposes?
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Oh my that looks yummy ~ I will be making this recipe for sure!
Jo
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Looks delicious!!! I will be on the look out for one of those bowls. It’s now at the top of my list along with the bundt pan.
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YUM! It looks so good! I love the summer because it means strawberries are plentiful! I am going to have to file this one away! Thank you for sharing!
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This looks so very yummy and perfect for an evening summer picnic~
sandy toe
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All of your desserts look so yummy! Thanks for hosting!
~Liz
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I love trifles and cheesecake, so this must be good!
Thank you for hosting–I look forward to linking up with you every week! 🙂
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looks delicious!!! thanks for hosting! 🙂
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having some couples over Friday night…this WILL be on my menu…..off to the thrift shop to look for a trifle dish…..hugs
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I’ve been looking for a strawberry triffle recipe! This looks amazing!!!
Glad you’re doing this!!!
Blessings~
Robin
All Things Heart and Home
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Jen~ It’s just WRONG for you to start my day off by inducing a craving I can’t fulfill immediately 🙂 Your trifle looks absolutely delicious. I’m definitely going to give this recipe a try, but (I’ll confess it right now) I’m going to cheat just a bit. My latest discovery: the MOST mouth-watering poundcake I have EVER had (already made)…found at, of all places, “my” dollar store!
Hugs!
Kimberly
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Great turnout Jen! Exciting!
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oh my goodness that looks fabulous!
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That trifle looks so delicious. I wish I had some right now. Thanks for the recipe.
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That trifle looks so good! I am definitely going to have to try that recipe!
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This sounds amazing! What did you substitute the orange juice with? I’m not a big orange flavoring person. 😀
Great to meet yoU!
You have a beautiful blog!
Sherry
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That looks so delicious….I LOVE anything with strawberries!!!
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That looks so beautiful. You almost hate to eat it. But hey, it’s strawberry cheesecake!
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yours looks yummy-O!!! And the learning curve is gracious in Blogland…so you still get an A+….I’ve just fixed my post so that it links to you regardless of the button not being linked….s’okay!!! 🙂
thanks for hosting us!
suzanne
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This trifle looks absolutely scrumptious. Love the cheesecake in it..
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OH wow, that looks amazing. So does the stuffed cream cheese french toast. Please tell me you’re going to share that too?
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That looks fantastic! Thanks for sharing your recipe with us.
~Susan
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Oh, these all look so yummy! Can’t wait to browse through.
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The trifle looks gorgeous. I’m definitely going to keep my eye out for a trifle bowl.
Thanks for hosting Tasty Tuesday. I wasn’t able to do a post today, but I’m definitely browsing Mr. Linky! Hopefully I’ll post next Tuesday.
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That Trifle looks absolutely amazing! Thanks for hosting Tasty Tuesday. Love the new button for it. I can’t wait to visit all the other recipes here.
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You post that beautiful picture of the stuffed cream cheese french toast, and then don’t share the recipe? Torture, I tell you. Pure torture ;)Maybe you’ll share that recipe on the next Tasty Tuesday…or somewhere in between 🙂
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that looks fantastic!!!!
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Jen, You have done a beautiful job! Tasty Tuesday is perfect for you! Enjoy it!
~Kim
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I finally finished my taxes, so I posted my salmon recipe! I notice all kinds of fun new things on your blog… it is looking good! I like your section buttons… and really love your beautiful “B” up in my web browser! How cool is that! Now I am off to browse what other yummy delights have been brought to the party. Blessings!
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You have been given the Sisterhood Award; swing by and pick it up =) Thanks for being a great place to find refreshment and a smile! Have a good day.
Lisa @ Graceful Abandon
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Yum – that sounds wonderful!! What a great Spring/Summer dessert! I even have one of those bowls – somebody actually gave us one when we got married. And thank you for adding that chocolate just for me. 🙂
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That sounds so good!
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Yes, I copy / pasted the html……no problem with the other 2 I did tonight…so who knows whats up! You can look a older posts …left side bar scroll down to Archives…for previous months. For current posts..they are listed on same side bar under Recently written.
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Hi there! So fun to be back online and to check out what you’ve been up to! I just read the post above and you mentioned the Covey book. My Mom helped write the Military version he put out. I love all of them~ very good reads!
Wishing you and yours a very happy belated Easter.
I am loving your blog header. How fun that is hun!
Les
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I just want to say that you sure do seem to be a special lady and I think your family is fortunate to have you.
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Jen Reply:
July 3rd, 2012 at 1:16 pm
You are so thoughtful. Thank you for your sweet words.
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I was wondering ..could I use cherrie pie filling instead of the strawberries?
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Jen Reply:
December 21st, 2012 at 12:01 pm
Yes, I think that would work well. Since the pie filling is much sweeter, just take that into account. Trifles are great. You can mix and match anything.
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olivia Reply:
June 4th, 2013 at 1:28 pm
is it hard to make the procse for the trifle or not is sound hard to me
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Jen Reply:
June 4th, 2013 at 3:52 pm
IT’s really not hard. It’s just layering your favorite things. 🙂
how do you make a trafil is it hard to do or not
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I am making this for my BBQ tomorrow except I am going to use white chocolate instead. I can’traitor try it.
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Jen Reply:
July 20th, 2013 at 6:57 am
Sounds delicious with white chocolate!
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