Death by Strawberry

You've heard of Death by Chocolate, right? Layers of whipped cream, chocolate mousse, chocolate cake, chocolate pudding, and anything else chocolate that can be thought of, stacked up in a trifle bowl? Well, this isn't it. Not exactly.

A few years ago, my mother-in-law was baking a Lemon poppyseed Bundt cake for a birthday/baptism party that afternoon, and when she tried to get it out of the pan (while still hot), it crumbled. Panic ensued. Between the two of us, we decided to make a lemon version of Death by Chocolate. We crumbled the baked cake into a bowl, made some instant lemon pudding, used the ice method to help lemon Jell-O set quicker, and grabbed some Cool Whip. It turned out really yummy. (You can see that here: Death by Lemon.)

Well, I quickly realized that it was easily adaptable to just about any fruit that I could find Jell-O and pudding flavors for. I really wanted to try strawberries, but I couldn't find instant pudding in a strawberry flavor. I looked online for a recipe (you can find a recipe for anything online, right?), but all I could find were recipes for pudding with strawberries (whole or chopped) in it. Hmm...I tabled the idea.

A few weeks ago, I was in the baking aisle at my grocery store and I saw a display with -- gasp! -- Strawberry Crème flavored instant Jell-O pudding! Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles! I could finally make Death by Strawberry! I'm pretty sure it's a seasonal item...I can't find it on the Jell-O website, so if you want it, go buy it now.

So without further ado, I offer you my long-awaited recipe:

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Death by Strawberry

1 strawberry flavored boxed cake mix
1 large (or 2 small) packages strawberry flavored Jell-O gelatin
2 packages strawberry crème flavored instant Jell-O pudding
1 tub Cool Whip, thawed
1 quart fresh strawberries, sliced

Bake cake mix according to directions on box. When cool, crumble into bowl. Prepare Jell-O gelatin as directed. Prepare pudding as directed.

When ready to assemble, repeat layers in a trifle bowl: Cool Whip, cake, Jell-O, pudding, strawberries. Finish the top with Cool Whip and arrange strawberries decoratively.

Chill before serving to help the whole thing set a little more.
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