Carob Berry Trifle

As I mentioned in a previous post, Wasn't That a Party!, the carob cake I made for my ex-husband's 60th birthday party turned out quite dense in texture due to outdated baking powder. The flavour was still good and I tried to redeem it by pouring Peanut Butter Carob Pie Filling over the top, but, while it tasted good, it still was unpleasantly dense. About half of it was eaten at the party, probably without much "relish" and so I had to decide what to do with the remainder. I hate to throw food away and so I put the cake in the freezer. Eventually, I resolved to use it in a trifle. I thought about doing it several times, for church potlucks or for my own personal consumption, but never got around to it till now. 
Today we had a barbecue at work. It was a fundraiser for the flood victims in southern Alberta, and included a silent auction and various raffle items. We paid $10 each for the burger of our choice, plus we were all to bring either a salad or a dessert. Just a word on the burgers: for the first time, they actually offered veggie burgers as an option. Hurray! I've only been working there 6 years... Three other people besides me ate veggie burgers. 
I opted to bring a dessert and decided this was the time to bring out the carob cake and make the trifle. It still had the Peanut Butter Carob Pie filling on top of it, so that went into the trifle as well. I used the basic directions for the trifle recipe from the  Seven Secrets Cookbook. Of course, I used my carob cake, cut into one-inch cubes, instead of the cake recipe in the book. And in place of the lemon pie filling or vanilla custard that was recommended in the cookbook, I used the Carob Pudding and Pie filling recipe from Whole Foods for Whole People. This cookbook is an old favourite of mine and I've made the carob pie numerous times. Yummy! Half of the cake cubes were put in the bottom of the bowl, then covered with the just-cooked carob pie filling. The remaining half of the cubes were distributed on top of the pie filling and pushed down into it. This was allowed to chill overnight. Meanwhile I made the Whipped Topping recipe from the Seven Secrets cookbook, which was also allowed to chill overnight. The main ingredient is a can of coconut mild, and it makes a very rich and delicious topping. 
Next evening after work, I added a layer of raspberries and outlined the dish with strawberries cut in halves.

I whipped the topping once more in the blender, as per instructions, added it to the dish, and completed it with more strawberry halves and some blueberries. 

Red, white and blue - looks kind of patriotic, dosen't it? 

Only about 1/3 of it went at the meal today, but considering how many people there were and about half of us brought desserts, that's not too bad. Besides I'll enjoy the leftovers. And it did turn out quite good. I just ate another bowl for supper. I might try it again some time, but next time I'll make sure my baking powder is not outdated. 
Just a couple of comments: In spite of the fact that there's all that info "out there" about the antioxidants in chocolate, there's still bad stuff in chocolate, some of which is a contributing factor to breast disease (See http://www.ucheepines.org/abstracts/). Personally, I once had a very painful cyst in one of my breasts and when I went to see the doctor about it, he asked if I used a lot of tea, coffee, chocolate or salt. I don't drink tea or coffee and don't think I use a lot of salt. I really didn't think I ate that much chocolate either, but that motivated me to quit and I didn't eat any for years and never had a recurrence. I have eaten chocolate occasionally more recently, but I prefer to get my antioxidants from things like the blueberries in this trifle, that I know don't have any disease-causing substances in them naturally. That's why I choose carob over chocolate. I heard Dr. Winston Craig speak and he said that it's okay to eat chocolate as long as you only eat as much as he does: about one or two squares a month. Note that's squares, not bars. 
The second point I want to mention is that, while I know there are ready made non-dairy whipped toppings available, I prefer to make my own if I have time. That way I'm in control of the ingredients.