Leprachaun Surprise

Ooooh, this turned out really good! I started with a boxed angel food cake and cooked it according to the box directions while adding a splash of vanilla and almond extract to the batter and some green food coloring for this St Patty's day desert. Bake as directed. Cool as directed. Then use a serrated knife and cut the cake into 3 equal horizontal pieces; I actually used my electric knife for this procedure.

Topping ingredients:

Crushed Pineapple: One 20 ounce can. Do not drain it.

Blueberries: 1/3 c plus some to decorate the top. I blanched the blueberries for about 30 seconds to soften them up a bit. Blanching: Boil a pot of water and dunk the blueberries down into the water. Some float and others sink so I used a small strainer with a mixing spoon held over the top to submerge them.

Strawberries: 1/3 c chopped plus some slices to decorate the top. I used frozen ones that I let defrost on a plate prior to use. They worked out fine.

Whipped Cream: 1 cup. Thawed. It doesn't take long to thaw; don't microwave it or anything.

Vanilla Instant Pudding/Pie Filling: 4 oz box. Nothing special about this.

MIX THE TOPPING: For the topping I started by mixing the can of pineapple and the pudding packet together. I divided this mixture into 3 separate bowls then to one of the bowls I added an additional 1/3 cup blueberries and to a second one I added 1/3 cup chopped strawberries. No I didn't add anything else to the original mixture in the last bowl. Now to each of these bowl add 1/3 c of thawed (not frozen) whipped cream and lightly turn it in. Refrigerate the bowls you aren't using yet or just add the whipped cream as you use each bowl otherwise the whipped cream gets too liquidy.

CONSTRUCT: Place the bottom or widest piece of cake on the serving plate and spooned the blueberry mixture onto the circle getting close to the edge so it would squish out a bit. Stack the next layer of cake onto this and spread on the strawberry mixture. Stack the last piece of cake on the tower and spread with the original pineapple topping. Complete your masterpiece by decorating with strawberry slices and blueberries. This was a big hit!