Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifle

My friend brewed his own beer and had a tasting party last Friday, so I brought this delicious dessert. It's not TOO terrible as the filling is sugar free and low fat, but the cake is not low fat or low sugar at all. I came home with some leftovers and instead of eating on it for a few days, I threw it in the trash! I don't know what that says about my self-control, but at least I'm aware of it. I did have one piece of it at the party and it was pretty great, so I will share the recipe even though it's not exactly diet friendly.

Delicious pumpkin cheesecake trifle. 

Yield: I used 16 servings for the nutrition...this is kind of hard to portion out though.

Ingredients:
1 spice cake box mix
1 package sugar-free, fat-free instant vanilla pudding
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 cups cold 2% milk (or whatever % you have on hand)
2 packages sugar-free, fat-free instant cheesecake pudding
2 cups lite cool whip, thawed
1/2 cup chopped pecans
 2 tbsp caramel syrup (I used Torani brand)

Preparation:
1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease or spray with cooking spray two 8 inch round cake pans. Note: You can easily use any size cake pan you want. I used the 8 inch rounds because they fit exactly in my trifle bowl. If you want to use a 9x13 pan, that's fine, you will  just have to break the cake up into pieces before layering in your dish. No big deal.
2. Combine the cake mix, vanilla pudding mix, pumpkin, water, oil, eggs, and spices in a large bowl. Stir until well blended and pour into the prepared baking dishes. Cook according to the directions on the cake mix box or until you can stick a knife into the middle of the cake and pull it out clean. My two 8 inch pans took about 40 minutes.
3. Whisk together the milk and two cheesecake pudding mixes for about 2 minutes. Allow it to set, another two minutes at least, and then fold in the cool whip. Do not stir the cool whip too much since it will lose the "fluff" and take on a weird texture.
4. After the cake has cooled to room temperature, layer the cake, cheesecake mixture, pecans, and caramel drizzle. I got two layers out of mine, but depending on the size of your dish, you might get more.
5. Refrigerate at least one hour before serving!

This would be so cute in individual martini glasses or champagne flutes for a party!