Malted Trifle

Here's the birthday boy as well as my beater licker.  Cute as can be!

My redhead just had his 12th birthday.  This is going way too fast!  Mr. Redhead shares his birthday with two different grandmas.  Jimmy's mom has the same birthday, as well as my grandma-great.  So April 15th may be tax day, but it is a day of celebration for us.  Jake loves this trifle every birthday.  This is the 3rd year running that he has asked for it as his birthday "cake".  The recipe was created out of a complete failure.  I was trying to make THIS cake for my redhead, and ended up with trifle instead.  I'm sure that never happens to anyone else:)  You know how it goes.  Actually how it doesn't go.  The cake is baked, assembly is started, and whoa bessy!  I've got a huge mess, and the cake can not be salvaged.  It's kind of like a bad hair day.  There's nothing you can do.  Your hair just looks like crap.  Even after trying it 3 different times, it's just not going to cooperate so you resign yourself to the fact that you won't look your best that day and you pray that you don't see anyone from High School:)   So if you have a bad cake day...........totally make trifle!  It may be any ugly cake in disguise, but it is a fantastic dessert.  Nobody needs to know you screwed up!

Malted Trifle

1 box chocolate cake mix made according to directions  (You can bake it in rounds or just a big sheet.  You're going to crumble the cake anyway.

1 large box chocolate pudding made according to directions

1 recipe Buttermilk Syrup or caramel ice cream topping

3 c. of whipped and sweetened cream

1 box of Whoppers or any other malted milk ball

I have a trifle bowl, but any pretty glass vessel will work.  You just want to see the layers.  The first layer crumble up one third of your cake.  Drizzle caramel or Buttermilk Syrup over the cake layer completely.  Next top the cake and caramel with the chocolate pudding.  Now a layer of crushed Whoppers.  Repeat this step two more times.  Let the trifle sit in the fridge for at least 2 hours, but longer is best.  Right before I serve the trifle I top it with the whipped cream.  It's delish!

Where's My Editor?

Where is my editor?  Why doesn't she find the errors in my recipes and let me know before I use them.  Today happens to be my birthday AND I get to host my neighborhood Christmas party.  I think it's a perfect way to spend my birthday and I am thrilled to spend the day in the kitchen making all sorts of delicious things.  The only thing that isn't fun is throwing an entire silver cookie sheet full of "not quite fudge" into the garbage.  Yup!  2 1/2 lbs. of chocolate, not to mention all the nuts and other things that went into the mix.  I went to my favorite fudge recipe.  I followed it to the T.  I failed miserably, and had to search for my hand written scratch piece of paper with the original recipe on it.  It took me 20 minute to find the recipe in my jumbled up mess of a 3 ring binder.  I had mistaken lbs. for cups.  Do you know what that means?  Almost 3 times the amount of chocolate, and a big giant greasy mess.  Some typos can lead to enormous failures and today was the day.  Good thing my food storage includes a few 25 lb. boxes of chocolate chips.  I figure I need semi sweet, milk chocolate, and mini chips to get me through the end of the world.  Also I think I will be able to barter for just about anything with my chocolate chips if the need arises:)

So a humongous apology to those who have tried making the fudge recipe.  It sucks as written and I am now enclosing the corrected version for the record.  It's tasty, delicious, divine, and perfect.  Perfect for a dinner party of 35.  So enjoy the fudge.  It's the perfect time of the year to make it, and guess what?  I've already taken one for the team so YOUR fudge should turn out perfect!

Western Family Old Fashioned Fudge (AKA The Clawson Secret)

4 c. sugar

1 12 oz. can Western Family evaporated milk (not sweetened condensed)

2 1/2 c. mini marshmellows

Bring everything together in a big pot and bring to a boil. Once it boils, boil for 8 mins. Meanwhile in your mixing bowl add:

2 1/2 CUPS. chopped dipping chocolate ( or chocolate chips)

1 c. butter

Pour hot mixture into chocolate and butter and whip until everything is melted and the misture has lost some of it's gloss. Add:

1 T. real vanilla

1/2 t. salt

1 lb. whole nuts (I used pecans)

1 1/2 c. more mini marshmellows

Mix again until marshmellows melt. Pour into a buttered cookies sheet. The big silver ones. Allow to cool for a few hours. It makes a ton of pieces. 176 to be exact. But who's counting.