Pumpkin Trifle with Butterscotch and Whipped Cream

Last weekend we held our annual Haunted Halloween Dinner with some friends where we give each dish a creepy name and then usually rock the night out with costumes and pumpkin carving. Well, the latter two lacked this year, BUT, we had a most GRUESOME time eating bat wings (blue tortilla chips), ogre ear wax salsa (tomatilla salsa), mysterious bat guts and limbs (black bean hummus and carrot sticks), fresh saliva (water), fresh witch noses and maggots baked in pumpkin (dinner in a pumpkin), Bloody Witch Fingers (sugar cookies with red gel frosting and almonds)... etc etc......

I must say it's quite fun; particularly the dish name-giving. Chris and I usually end up laughing our heads off and simply have a ball doing it. Two years ago we started doing this tradition (check out here), last year we did a progressive Haunted dinner and this year we hung low with little babies and tots and kept things easy. I like it. I think our Haunted Halloween Dinner will continue through the years. Drinking FRESH SALIVA is my personal favorite:).

Anyways. Pumpkin trifle is the recipe I'm posting today from that dinner. Under Halloween vernacular we titled it, "Dracula's Cake with Whipped Bone Marrow and Toffee-flavored Monster boogers"-- or something like that.

It's a good fall dessert and once you take a bite, it's hard to call it quits-- as with most trifles I find. That darn whipped cream and pudding. Gets me every time.

Enjoy this one today.. still have a few more pumpkin recipes to post before Sunday.

Ciao!

Pumpkin Trifle (aka, Dracula Cake with Whipped Bone Marrow:))

1 recipe pumpkin cake, baked and cooled (recipe follows)

1 carton whipped cream, whipped, OR 1 big tub cool whip

2 smaller packages butterscotch-flavored pudding made according to package directions

1 bag Heath toffee bits

In a trifle bowl, layer as follows: chunks of pumpkin cake, butterscotch pudding, whipped cream and toffee bits. You should have two of these layers. Finish with toffee bits on top of whipped cream. Refrigerate leftovers. Serves a LOT.

Pumpkin Cake

1 yellow cake mix

1 cup canned, mashed pumpkin

1 3.4 oz vanilla instant pudding mix

1/2 cup oil (or applesauce)

1/2 cup water

3 eggs

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp all cloves

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp ginger

In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix on high speed for at least 2 minutes. Pour into a greased 9 x 13 glass dish (or a bundt cake pan works too), and bake until done.