Sue’s Chocolate Torte (Trifle)

 Sue’s Chocolate Torte

• Chocolate cake, made according to box instructions
• 1 large box instant chocolate pudding
• 1 large container Cool Whip
• Heath bits
• Kahlúa (optional)

1- Bake chocolate cake according to instructions and cool

2- Once cake is cool, cut into cubes

3- Making instant chocolate pudding according to package instructions and refrigerate until set

4- Begin layering cake, pudding cool whip, and heath bits in trifle bowl

5- Top with heath bits

6- If using Kahlúa, drizzle over cake before adding the pudding layer

This recipe truly reminds me of my grandma. I remember always being so excited when I was a kid when we’d have some kind of get together and she would make this. I made this two days ago when my brother and brother-in-law came over for dinner, and my brother was telling me that he remembers going to church with my grandparents and getting to go down in the basement into one of the meeting rooms and getting to eat this. Grandma had probably made it for a treat during one of their church meetings, and of course us grandkids would happily eat the left overs. 

It seems to be a common theme that I am not sure where my grandma got her recipes, and this one is no exception. I very vividly remember eating it as a kid, so it’s probably at least 20 years old if I had to guess. My family has always called it chocolate torte, which I have never understood because it’s more of a trifle. Funnily enough, I had to call my mom this weekend to ask if I could borrow “that glass dish that grandma always served her chocolate torte in,” because 1- I have no dish even similar to this but 2- grandma ALWAYS (and I mean ALWAYS) served it in a dish like this, so for the blog it had to be as accurate as possible.

While writing these blogs, I have tried my best to stay as correct as possible, which means searching the things I don’t know. I can’t, in good conscience, have a culinary degree and be spitting out lies on the internet, you know? I asked my brother-in-law, who also has a culinary degree, if he knew what this glass dish was even called when they were over here Monday evening. He said he had no idea. I had no idea either. Turns out, after .00007 seconds of googling, it’s literally called a trifle bowl. 

Who knew? Apparently not my family. 

I also found out they come in different sizes. As I made this one, I did not use all of the chocolate cake (which really isn’t a problem for my husband and I, because who won’t eat chocolate cake?) which lead me to telling my brother that I didn’t recall grandma ever having cake left over. He said she didn’t, if I’m using mom’s dish, it’s smaller than the one grandma had. 

This is a pretty straight forward recipe, it’s just layering delicious ingredients to make an even more delicious dessert. Grandma didn’t always add the Kahlúa, but if you’re choosing to add it you can pour it over the layers of chocolate cake to absorb it before adding the pudding layer. I made this once at my in-laws and my husband’s aunt absolutely loved it with the Kahlúa. Who doesn’t love a booze-y dessert?

I think it’s easier to slice the cake into cubes, and then break up the cubes a little and lightly pack them into the trifle bowl. If you feel like getting your hands dirty, you can just break the cake up with your hands, which I am pretty sure is how my grandma did it. 

After layering the cake and pudding, I used a rubber spatula to plop in the Cool Whip and spread it out. Then sprinkled on a layer of Heath bits. If you’re not a fan of toffee, you can add whatever you want here. Crumbled up Reese’s cups, chocolate chips, or even nuts. The Heath bits give a nice crunchy texture to the dish. 

I asked my cousin what he remembered about this dessert. He said he remembered it always being in this big glass container, and being excited to scoop out a big bowlful. He said he loved it and he would 100% eat it today if he had some.