Chocolate Banana Cream Trifle

I was looking through my cook books and noticed I made this back in April 2009 and I hadn't posted it yet. So I thought that I would post it just for the sake of posting something. I haven't had anything that I have wanted to blog about lately. Haven't been in the "oh lets try something new mode" lately it has been more of a "survival mode" and doing the quick easy family favorites a.k.a comfort foods that I know my kids will gobble down. My picture doesn't look even close to the cookbook photo--I think my trifle dish was too big, making all the layers seem more like one. But regardless of how it looks it's a dessert so we had enjoyed eating it anyway!

Chocolate Banana Cream Trifle

18 whole graham crackers, divided

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 (12 oz) container frozen whipped topping, thawed and divided

1 pkg. (3.4 oz) banana cream instant pudding and pie filling (I used my Family's Banana Cream Pie recipe)

1 cup milk

1 lemon

4 large bananas

Finely chop half of a graham crackers; set aside. Coarsely crumble remaining crackers into a 2-qt. mixing bowl.

For ganache, place chocolate morsels and 1 1/2 cups of the whipped topping into a small bowl. Microwave on high 45-60 seconds or until melted smooth, stirring every 15 seconds. Combine the pudding mix and the milk; whisk until mixture begins to thicken. Fold in remaining whipped topping ; set aside.

Juice lemon to measure 2 Tablespoons juice. Peel bananas and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces. Slice banana sections with egg slicer if desired. Add lemon juice and toss gently. Set aside 12 slices for garnish.

To assemble trifle, place half of the crumbled graham crackers over the bottom of trifle bowl. Place half of the bananas over the crackers, arranging some of the bananas against sides of the bowl, and top with one-third of the ganache. Spread half of the banana filling over ganache spreading to edges. Repeat layers one time. Decorate with remaining ganache. Sprinkle top of trifle with chopped graham cracker. Arrange reserved banana slices around edges of trifle.

Yeilds 16 servings (Recipe taken from Pampered Chef Spring/Summer 2009 Seasons Best booklet)

** The chocolate was a little dark for my taste. Next time I will try it with a milk chocolate.