Chocolate Health Bar Trifle

With the Fourth of July weekend only a few days away, I have a great cookout dessert recipe to share.  I actually made this for our Memorial Day BBQ and it was a hit.  If you don't have a trifle bowl yet, I suggest you add it to your wish list.  Trifles (layered pudding like desserts) are super simple to put together but the presentation is elegant.  This recipe serve 10-12 people and can be made the day before which makes it perfect for entertaining.

Ingredients:

1 store bought chocolate angel food cake, cut into one inch cubes
1 recipe of chocolate custard* (or one box prepared chocolate pudding)
2 cups of heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons of powdered sugar
2 tablespoons of Kahlua
3 Heath Bars- coarsely chopped

*Chocolate Custard:

3/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoons of flour
1 tablespoons of cornstarch
3 tablespoons of cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 1/2 cups 2% or whole milk
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1 tablespoon of butter

Combine the dry ingredients in a sauce pan.  Whisk in the milk and eggs.  Cook the mixture over medium, stirring constantly, until gently bubbling and thick.  (4-5 minutes).  Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and butter.  Transfer to a glass bowl, cover with plastic wrap (touching the top of the custard), and refrigerate until cool.  At least one hour, up to overnight.

Prepare the custard or the instant pudding.  Whip the cream with the powdered sugar and Kahlua. 

Cube the angel food cake and chop the Heath Bars.  Now you are ready to assemble..

Start with a layer of cubed cake in the bottom of the trifle dish or a large glass bowl.  Next spoon a layer of chocolate custard or pudding (about a third of it) over the cake, following by a layer of Kahlua whipped cream and a layer of chopped candy bar.  Repeat 3-4 times until you've used up all the ingredients.  You want to end with whipped cream and chopped Heath bar.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.  It is best if you let it sit at least 3-4 hours.  The cake soaks up some of the custard and cream. 

A few other yummy trifle ideas:

Angel Food Cake with Lemon Curd, whipped cream, fresh Strawberries, Blueberries and Raspberries
Almond Pound Cake with Grand Marnier whipped cream, sweetened mascarpone cheese and macerated strawberries
Chocolate Angel Food Cake with Vanilla pudding, banana slices and chopped Reece's Cups