Pineapple Carrot Cake Trifle

 I was recently invited to dinner with a group of friends, and of course, my first question to Marie, (who is quite the hostess) was "what can I bring?" She said she wanted something chocolate. Perfect. So I decided I would make a deliciously decadent chocolate trifle with layers of cake and chocolate whipped cream. The perfect showstopper dessert! But then Marie said "I'd kill for caramel brownies." Ok, I'll make them, but they weren't the showstopper I was looking for. After taking a quick survey of the ingredients I had on hand, I thought OH! A carrot cake trifle!! Great idea! But baking an entire cake would have been more than I needed for the dessert. So then I found this recipe for carrot cake squares on a blog called Eat Cake For Dinner, and decided to layer them with spiced pineapple and cream cheese whipped topping. THIS was the showstopper I had been looking for! HUGE hit!!  Everyone loved it!
 Now, if you don't want to make a trifle, you can easily just make the squares, cover them with cream cheese icing and call it a day. They're fabulous all on their own! But if you're looking for a showstopper, this is it!

For the carrot cake squares:
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour 1 tsp. baking powder 1/4 tsp. baking soda 1 1/4 tsp. cinnamon pinch of nutmeg, opt. 2 eggs, slightly beaten 2 1/2 c. shredded carrots 3/4 c. packed light brown sugar 1/4 c. sugar 1/2 c. canola or vegetable oil 1 tsp. vanilla
Preheat oven to 350ºF.  In a large bowl combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg; set aside.  In a medium bowl combine the eggs, shredded carrots, brown sugar, sugar, oil, and vanilla and mix until well blended.  Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir together until just combined.  Do not overmix.  Pour batter into a greased 9x13-inch baking pan and spread out evenly.  Bake for 20 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely.

For the trifle:
Drain a 20oz can of pineapple chunks, then chop them up a bit smaller. Place them in a small bowl and add 1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice and 1 tbs of sugar. Set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine 1 large container of Cool Whip (or your favorite store brand non-dsiry whipped topping) and an 8oz package of cream cheese.

Now make layers in a trifle bowl or any high-sided glass bowl:
Start with a little bit of the whipped topping mixture on the bottom. 
Then do 3 layers of cake then pineapple then topping. (refer to the picture if you need to!)
Chill until ready to serve!

Tips:
Instead of using the spiced pineapple, you can just use a jar of pineapple preserves. Just add a tbs of water to loosening it up a bit. You can also use crush pineapple, or chopped fresh pineapple, or any combination. It will all work!
When you're making your layers, take extra care to make perfectly clean layers around the outside of the bowl. This will make it a showstopper!
Btw, when I made the carrot cake squares, I used pumpkin pie spice instead of just cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg. why? because I like it!!!