Banana Split Trifles

                                 These Banana Split Trifles are made with white cake, vanilla pudding, bananas, strawberries and pineapple. Topped with whipped cream, nuts and a cherry, they are the perfect summer treat!

Banana Splits are one of the quintessential desserts of summer, and these easy trifles are one of my favorite way to do them up!

True, there’s no ice cream, but without the cream they are perfectly portable and great for picnics and barbecues!

I love making these in mason jars (large or small!) so that individual servings are ready to grab and go.

Ingredients and Substitutions:

①Vanilla cake mix: I’ll admit, I’m not much of a cake mix baker these days, but when I first published these in 2015 with a blog, a full time job, and a toddler, I took shortcuts where needed! Feel free to swap in a homemade vanilla cake that you love (or hey, even store bought!)

 ②Vanilla pudding: Taking a shortcut on the cake gives us more time to make homemade pudding, and it’s worth it! That being said, a vanilla pudding mix is an easy swap when needed.

③Fruit: there are a few different variations on the Banana Split, but I chose to use bananas, strawberries and pineapple for my added flavors here. Feel free to swap them out with another fruit (try raspberries in place of strawberries!), or add in some chocolate sauce for extra indulgence.

Can I make this in one large bowl?

Absolutely!

Simply create your layers in a large glass trifle bowl or any large glass bowl will do.

You can even layer it up in a 9×13″ pan for easy serving if you wish!

Can I make them ahead?

Because the bananas brown quickly (even when brushed with lemon or pineapple juice), I prefer not to make them more than a few hours in advance.

There’s nothing wrong with eating brown bananas, so you can make it earlier, but they just won’t be as pretty.

Ingredients

①1 vanilla cake mix prepared according to package directions cooled and cubed

Vanilla pudding:

①4 cups milk

 ②1 cup sugar

③6 tbsp corn starch

④½ tsp salt

⑤3 tsp vanilla

 ⑥ 2 tbsp butter

To assemble:

①4 cups fresh strawberries chopped

②4 cups fresh pineapple chopped

③4 bananas sliced

④2-3 cups prepared whipped topping

⑤8-10 cherries

Instructions

To make vanilla pudding:

①In a large pot, bring milk to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring often (you don’t want the milk to scorch).

②In a medium bowl, combine sugar, corn starch, salt, and vanilla. When milk is nearly boiling, whisk in the sugar mixture and continue cooking over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened. Stir in butter. The pudding will continue to thicken as it cools. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

To assemble:

①Layer trifle in this order: cake, bananas, pudding (cooled to room temperature), pineapple, strawberries.

②I like to do 2 layers of this, then top with whipped cream and cherries – you can obviously adjust to your tastes!

③Chill until ready to serve. You can store in the refrigerator for a couple days if you need to, but I wouldn’t leave it too long because you wantyour fruit as fresh as possible.

Notes

*When making trifle, I like to work with the pudding before it’s chilled and set, this way it sinks into the cake layer more.

*I like to brush banana slices with lemon juice to prevent browning. You could also use pineapple juice!

*This recipe will make 8-10 trifles, depending on the size.