How to make a trifle

This weekend, my in-laws were in town to visit, and I made a chocolate-coffee bourbon trifle as a special dessert.

No, wait… that cuts out the middle part of the story and makes me look better than it should. First, I attempted to make a chocolate buttermilk bundt cake. It stuck to the pan as I unmolded it, splitting in half. So, I had to think fast. I had whipping cream, and I was already planning on making a chocolate ganache to ice the cake, so throw it all in a bowl and call it a trifle.

Why not?

The trifle was a hit, and I felt good about making something that, as it turned out, was even better than what I had originally intended.

So, in honor of my first accidental trifle,* I present A Very Special How-To Guide:

* I have made a couple of trifles intentionally, including a chocolate-peanut butter one for the hubby’s birthday one year, which was insanely good.

How to Make an Accidental Trifle

First, bake a cake. Ruin it in some way that makes it not-pretty, but still good. It could be too dry, or it could crack while you’re trying to split it into layers, or, like mine, it could stick to the pan and come apart when you try to unmold it.

Oops. Should’ve floured the pan.

Freak out a little bit about all of your wasted effort. Then, regroup. Get yourself some heavy cream and whip it up with a bit of sugar and some vanilla or booze. I used coffee bourbon, and it was delectable. Make a ganache or some other kind of sauce to complement your cake. I melted some bittersweet chocolate chips in the microwave and mixed in some whole milk, since I used all of my cream for whipping purposes.

Break your cake into chunks and layer it in a large, deep bowl with the whipped cream and ganache. Repeat until you’re out of something. Scoop into bowls and enjoy. Congratulate yourself on making something awesome out of an abject failure.

Sweet, sweet success.