I had a BIG, HUGE Pinterest FAIL
for my big 4th of July Dessert plans
I saw this picture on Pinterest
And thought a Cheesecake cake would be really delicious
and looked very festive!
I made my cakes into Jello cakes
instead of using so much food coloring
and I made a cheesecake for the middle
All of the cakes turned out just fine
My mistake was when I decided to try the cool whip frosting again
I *should* have learned my lesson from last year
when the frosting wasn’t setting up right
But I was *sure* I did it right
and put plenty of powdered sugar in the frosting
to make it firmer
and I even froze it before spreading
Here is a hint:
NEVER, and I mean NEVER
use cool whip frosting when trying to do multiple layers
It will end in disaster
I should have gone with the Cream Cheese frosting 😛
I get the first layer down fine
Add some frosting,
Then add the cheesecake
It starts sliding, but I am able to stead it with some bamboo stakes
Then I tried to add the third, layer
Three layers was just too much
I get the layer on top
It is fine
and then it just starts sliding
and breaking apart
I think,
Ok, It’ll just cover the cracks with the frosting,
It’ll be fine…
I add the frosting
The cakes keep sliding
(even with the bamboo stakes)
and the top layer is splitting apart
I run it to the freezer
thinking it might just freeze firm
Yeah
10 minutes later,
all it did was make a HUGE mess in my freezer
I decide to take the whole thing apart
The cheese cake is still together
as is the bottom cake
the top layer is in pieces…
My husband cleaned out the freezer
and I am kicking myself now for not taking a picture of the HUGE mess
but my hands were COVERED in the cool whip frosting
I figure we’ll just take each layer separate
even though they look like a big mess
they still taste fine
Then my husband has a brilliant idea
Why not just make it into a Trifle
and then it looks like it was on purpose
Yes!
There is a reason I married this brilliant man!!
I stat to chunk up each layer
(the top layer didn’t need much help
and spoon it into the bowl
Then I topped it with some more whipped cream
and grabbed the few blueberries and strawberries we had
to try to make it look “festive”
I still had a huge mess to clean up
but it totally worked out great
It was sooooo freaking delicious!!
I mean,
It was REALLY REALLY REALLY good!!
I was very pleased my HUGE Pinterest failure
turned into a Delicious success!
Jello cakes were fantastic
the Cheesecake was to die for
and the Cool Whip frosting
made the whole thing come together
So when a cake problem goes awry,
just turn it into a delicious trifle!
And NEVER use Cool Whip frosting on a multi-layer cake
Go with your first instinct
and use Cream Cheese Frosting!!
Ingredients::
- 1 White Cake Mix
- 1 box Strawberry Jello
- 1 box Blueberry Jello
- 2 8 oz boxes of Cream Cheese (I used low fat)
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup of sugar
- 1 cup Sour Cream (I used low fat)
- dash of vanilla
Frosting
Cream Cheese frosting from this recipe
Or Cool whip frosting
- 2 tubs of cool whip
- 2 cups of powdered sugar
- dash of vanilla
Mix together until combined.
Directions:
Make the cake according to box directions and bake in 2 9″ cake pans. Once out of the oven, boil the water for your Jello. Make each Jello separately, according to the Jello box, for making regular Jello (Usually 1 cup of boiling water, dissolve the Jello, add 1 cup of cold water). Poke LOTS of holes in your cakes. SLOWLY pour one Jello over one cake, and the other jello to the other. To get the consistent color throughout, you need to use the entire box. Let sit in the refrigerator for at least 4-5 hours
Cheesecake
Heat oven to 325. Beat the Cream Cheese on low until creamy with no lumps, about 1 minute. Add in your eggs, one at a time, until incorporated. Add in the sugar, and beat until creamy. Scrape down the bowl as needed. Add in the sour cream and the vanilla. Beat until well mixed, scraping down the sides as needed. Place in a spring form pan with foil around the outside of the pan. Place a larger roasting pan in the oven and fill it with boiling water until about half way up the Spring form pan (the foil around the pan will prevent water from getting in), add the spring form pan to the pan with the water, and bake for 45-55 minutes. The Cheesecake will be a bit jiggly, but should mostly be set. Let cool on the counter for 30 minutes, and then chill in the refrigerator for 4-5 hours
Once all cakes are chilled, you can layer it and make a three layer cake using some cream cheese frosting… or you can use some cool whip, chunk up and layer the different cakes and make a trifle! Your choice!
Red, white, and blue trifle
Red, white, and blue trifle
Red, white, and blue trifle
