New month new series!!! This month is all about Spring Desserts! Spring is the time when the desserts are light and cool and creamy and fruity!

So to kick of this month I am sharing my Citrus Sunshine Trifle. It is a riff on my favorite cake which is a pig pickin cake. That is my birthday cake every year and it is delicious! I think the spring just screams for trifles and this cake transforms into a trifle seamlessly.

The trifle begins with a yellow cake mix (made to the box directions) and usually calls for one can of drained mandarin oranges squished up and added to the mix. Since I was turning this into a trifle I wasn’t worried about the stability of the cake and bumped up the orange flavor by adding two cans of drained mandarin oranges. Then you bake the cake, cool it, and slice it into squares.

Next comes my favorite part! The frosting part of the cake which now becomes a trifle layer is cool whip mixed with drained crushed pineapple. That it is it. Simple as that! I swear I could eat the whole pineapple/cool whip concoction on it’s own (one time I did ;)

Now you just do a cake layer and a cool whip layer till you run out of ingredients. Top it with a few mandarin oranges, I love the retro look of my little orange flowers. Then chill it and serve.

Citrus Sunshine Trifle

Ingredients

1 yellow cake mix
2 cans mandarin oranges, 15 ounces each
2 containers Cool Whip, 8 ounces each
Large can crushed pineapple

Instructions

Mix the cake according to the directions on the box.
Drain both cans of oranges and use a fork to mush them up in the can.
Add them to the cake mix and bake according to box directions.
Let cake cool and cut into little squares.
Drain the pineapple.
Mix the 2 containers of cool whip with the drained, crushed pineapple.
Place a layer of cake in your trifle bowl, then a layer of cool whip/pineapple mixture.
Repeat until all cake and cool whip are gone.
You can arrange some mandarin orange slices on top to look pretty.
Chill for at least 2 hours and serve!