Salted Caramel Pecan Trifle

There was a birthday at work last week and the lady whose birthday it was said she wanted something caramel-y.  Challenge accepted. 

I knew that she loves trifle so obviously a caramel trifle was the way to go. I added in a sour cream - whipped cream layer for a little tang and toasted pecans for a little crunch and *voila* a super delicious, not too sweet but still sweet enough dessert for the whole office!

Plus, I had enough left over to make a dessert for the family.

You really can't lose with this one. For real though. 

Salted Caramel Pecan Trifle

Caramel Sauce

1/4 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup whipping cream

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 Tbsp vanilla

Cake

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp caramel extract

1 1/2 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

Sour Cream Whipped Cream

3 1/2 cups whipping cream

2/3 cup sour cream

2/3 cup icing sugar

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups toasted pecan halves

Directions

Prepare caramel sauce - In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine butter, brown sugar, whipping cream, sea salt, and vanilla. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, simmer for 7 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and let cool to room temp. 

 Prepare cakes - Preheat oven to 350. Line 3, 8 inch pans with parchment paper and lightly spray with cooking spray. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat together butter and brown sugar until fluffy, scraping sides as needed. Add in the eggs, beating after each addition. Beat in the caramel extract. 

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. 

Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet mixture, alternating with the milk. Beat well after each addition. Spread the batter evenly among the 3 pans.

Bake at 350 until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean, about 20 - 30 minutes. 

Let cool ten minutes in pan and then invert on cooling racks to cool completely. 

When caramel sauce and cakes are cool you can prepare the whipping cream.

Prepare sour cream whipped cream - In a large bowl beat whipping cream, sour cream, icing sugar, and vanilla until soft peaks form. 

Assemble your trifle: 

Cut 2 of the cakes into approx 1 inch cubes. 

Have your caramel sauce and whipping cream mixtures ready.

Place a layer of cake cubes in the bottom of your serving dish.

Spread approx 1/3 of the whipped cream mixture over the cake.

Drizzle with a generous amount of caramel sauce and then place about 1/3 of the pecans over the caramel.

Repeat layers 2 more times. 

Chill until ready to serve. 

You will have one cake left over and a little of the cream, caramel, and pecans - depending on the size of your trifle dish, of course. I simply "iced" the cake with the leftover whipped cream and caramel and pecans. 

FYI - it's tasty this way too.

Of course, a big ol' scoop of trifle is a pretty good way to go as well.

If you have a bigger trifle dish then feel free to use up all the ingredients in the trifle. 

FYI - Salted caramel is a fabulous way to go for those people who aren't fond of chocolate.