Easy Entertaining Idea: Trifle Bar!!!!!

This year for the fourth of July, Heather and I wanted to try something different and delicious for a dessert. A while ago, I read in Taste of Home about the idea of a trifle bar. I thought this would be fun. So we tried it, and it was a HUGE success for our barbecue, and very delicious! Plus, it was so little work, it made the day even better! For those non-triflers out there, according to google, a trifle is defined as: "a dessert dish made from thick (or often solidified) custard, fruit, sponge cake, fruit juice or, more recently, gelatin, and whipped cream. These ingredients are usually arranged in layers with fruit and sponge on the bottom, and custard and cream on top." We put out individual serving dishes for our guests, along with dishes of brownie cubes, angel food cake cubes, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, vanilla pudding, and cool whip, and let them go to town. Since this was 4th of July, we went with the red-white-blue thing, but you can let your imagination go wild! Here are some suggestions:

Cakes:
Frozen (or homemade) pound cake cubes
Chocolate Cake cubes
Angel Food Cake cubes
Brownie Cubes
Yellow Cake Cubes
White Cake Cubes

Fruits:
Strawberries
Blackberries
Raspberries
Blueberries
Blackberries
Banana Slices
Mandarin Orange Segments
Kiwi Slices

Sauces/Custards:
Vanilla Pudding
Chocolate Pudding
White Chocolate Pudding
Cheesecake Pudding
Banana Cream Pudding
Favorite jam or jelly
Chocolate or Caramel Sauce

Toppings:
Whipped Cream/Cool Whip
Yogurt
Raspberry Whipped cream (if you want to get extra fancy!) To make raspberry whipped cream: take one 10 oz. tub of frozen sweeetened raspberries in syrup, thawed, blend in blender for 30 seconds until pureed, strain and discard seeds, and stir in one 8 oz. tub of Cool Whip, and voila! Instant raspberry cream! :-)