Caramel Carrot Cake White Chocolate Cheesecake Trifle (a mouthful to say, but oh-so totally worth it!)

Happy Easter, everyone!!!  I hope you all had a wonderfully blessed and happy one!

Last weekend, after a fun day in the Valley including lunch at Dave's Taverna, winetasting and a winery tour at CrossKeys Vineyard, and the Green Valley Book Fair with the b/f and our (newly engaged!) friends Patrick and Lila, I enjoyed a nice dinner with Mom and Jon at L'Italia.  It was an awesome, fun-filled Saturday, and at some point during conversation that night, I asked Mom what she wanted me to make for Easter dinner the next Sunday.  She thought about it and suggested that I could make a dessert, like carrot cake.  Now, I've made a couple of pretty awesome carrot cakes from scratch for various occasions in recent years, but this time I just felt like changing it up a bit.  So, I started searching for something carrot cake-ish, but a bit different from the norm.  Then, I happily stumbled upon this recipe for Caramel Carrot Cake White Chocolate Cheesecake Trifle from Something Swanky, and I knew I absolutely had to make this delectable dessert!  Game over!!!

I also volunteered to bring a dessert for a Young Professionals Ministry party last Tuesday night, so I figured I might as well go ahead and test out the new recipe!  It turned out to be a huge hit, with only about 1.5 servings left in the bottom of the bowl! :)  I took this as a good sign that the trifle was indeed worthy of being served at Easter dinner.  So alas, I whipped it up again yesterday afternoon and received rave reviews from my fam. :)

Caramel Carrot Cake White Chocolate Cheesecake Trifle

Ingredients:

• 1 - 9x13 carrot cake (baked & cooled), from scratch or from a mix...(if you go the mix route, I highly recommend Duncan Hines Decadent Classic Carrot Cake mix)
• Caramel Sundae Sauce
• 2 cups pecan pieces, chopped (optional...I left these out)
• 1 - 8 oz. tub Fat-Free Cool Whip, thawed
• 1 - 8 oz. container Philadelphia White Chocolate Indulgences cream cheese, softened*
• 1 - 8 oz. container Neufchatel cream cheese, softened*
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

*The original recipe called for 2 containers of the white chocolate cream cheese, but I thought that would be a bit too rich, so I decided to go with 1 white chocolate and 1 neufchatel, which I think worked out well.

Instructions:

1. Using a hand mixer, blend the cream cheese and sugar together until smooth and creamy.
2. Blend in the cool whip, salt, lemon juice, and vanilla. Set mixture aside.
3. Once the carrot cake is completely cooled, cut the cake into 1″ squares. Place 1/3 of the squares in the bottom of a trifle dish. 

4. Drizzle caramel over the cake (feel free to adjust the amount based on your own personal preference).

5. Spread 1/3 of the cheesecake mixture over the cake and sprinkle with 1/3 of the pecans (if using).

6. Repeat layering, ending with the cheesecake and pecans (if desired) on top. 

Drizzle with some more caramel! Chill for at least an hour or overnight, serve, and be prepared to scrape the bowl clean! :)