Colossal Caramel Apple Trifle —rsquo; The Dessert That Holds the Table Together

Christmas week, and the kitchen produces the annual feast with the reliable machinery of a tradition that has been running for seven years in this journal and for decades before that in Mama's kitchen and for generations before that in the parsonage in Beaufort. The machinery runs on butter and memory and the particular stubbornness of a woman who considers Christmas dinner non-negotiable.

James arrived on the 23rd with Elise, and the arrival changed the house's energy from two-person to four-person, from quiet to animated, from the particular hush of a retired couple and a mother with Alzheimer's to the noise of a young couple who are in love and who bring the love into the house like heat: invisible, undeniable, changing the temperature of every room they enter.

Christmas Day: four at the table, Joy for the afternoon, Carrie on FaceTime from Kyoto at midnight her time (noon ours), the screen propped against the centerpiece showing a girl in a dormitory in Japan who is homesick for ham and peach cobbler and the blessing that her grandmother gives in fragments that her mother completes. Mama blessed the food. The blessing was one word: "Thanks." One word. The entire prayer compressed to six letters. I said, "Amen." Robert said, "Amen." James said, "Amen." Elise said, "Amen." And the four amens were the prayer's completion, and the completion was communal, and the communal was the Christmas.

Joy wore reindeer antlers and ate ham with her hands and laughed at her own reflection in the silver serving platter and the laughing was the carol, the hymn, the music of the day.

I made the Christmas dinner: she-crab soup, ham, collard greens, mac and cheese, sweet potato casserole, cornbread dressing (crumbled), peach cobbler. The same. Always the same. And the sameness is the Christmas, and the Christmas is the family, and the family is one word: thanks.

Every year the menu is the same — and I would not change a single dish — but the dessert table has always had room for one thing that surprises, one thing that draws Joy back to the buffet a second time and makes Carrie ask through the FaceTime screen what she’s missing. This year that thing was a caramel apple trifle: layers of spiced cake, tender cinnamon apples, and ribbons of caramel that pooled at the bottom of the bowl like something poured out and given freely, the way Mama’s one-word blessing was given. It isn’t cobbler, but it carries the same warmth, the same softness, the same sense that someone made it with the people at the table entirely in mind.

Colossal Caramel Apple Trifle

Prep Time: 30 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 50 min | Servings: 16

Ingredients

• 1 package (18.25 oz) spice cake mix, prepared according to package directions and cooled
• 6 medium apples, peeled, cored, and chopped (about 6 cups)
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 packages (3.4 oz each) instant vanilla pudding mix
• 3 cups cold whole milk
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 carton (16 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed and divided
• 1 jar (16 oz) caramel ice cream topping, divided
• 1/2 cup toffee bits

Instructions

1. Cook the apples. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Add chopped apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 15–18 minutes until apples are tender and caramelized. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
2. Make the pudding layer. In a large bowl, whisk together instant vanilla pudding mix, cold milk, and sour cream until smooth and slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Fold in half of the whipped topping until just combined. Refrigerate for 10 minutes.
3. Cut the cake. Once the baked spice cake is fully cooled, cut or crumble it into 1-inch cubes. You will use all of the cake.
4. Layer the trifle. In a large trifle bowl or deep glass serving dish, arrange half the cake cubes in an even layer on the bottom. Spoon half the apple mixture over the cake. Spread half the pudding mixture over the apples. Drizzle generously with about 1/3 of the caramel topping. Repeat all layers once more.
5. Top and finish. Spread the remaining whipped topping over the final pudding layer. Drizzle the remaining caramel topping over the whipped cream and scatter toffee bits evenly across the surface.
6. Chill before serving. Cover and refrigerate the trifle for at least 1 hour (or up to overnight) before serving so the layers settle and the flavors meld. Serve cold with a large spoon, scooping through all layers.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 420 | Protein: 5g | Fat: 14g | Carbs: 68g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 380mg