Step 1

In a large mixing bowl, add the condensed milk and the cold milk. Beat for 1 minute with a hand mixer. Then, add in the vanilla instant pudding mix and blend for another minute. Put a lid or foil over the mixing bowl and pop in the fridge to completely cool, set and firm-up for 4 hours minimum (or you can let it rest overnight like I did – but it must set for 4 hours minimum for the proper results so be patient!)

Step 2

Just before removing the pudding mixture from the fridge, in a separate mixing bowl, take the hand mixer or a stand mixer and add in the heavy/whipping cream. Beat until it begins to stiffen and look like whipped cream for about 2-3 minutes (I used a stand mixer and worked my way up to the 6-speed and then to the 8-speed). Now take the pudding mixture out of the fridge and transfer the whipped cream into the pudding bowl, folding and mixing in well until smooth and creamy

Step 3

Take a trifle bowl and cover the bottom with a layer of the cookies, followed by some of the bananas and then top off with some of the pudding mixture. I was able to get four layers in my bowl so just eyeball the proper amount for each layer leaving a little room for the lid to go on top. Just be careful when layering as part of the experience here is visual (hence the glass trifle bowl) – if you get some pudding or banana remnants on the sides of the bowl prematurely, just wipe it with a paper towel. Once the final layer of pudding is in place (you may have some extra pudding which you can just save for later), crush the remaining cookies and sprinkle on top (you can also sprinkle the crushed wafers on top right before serving if you wish for them to be crunchy).

Step 4

Cover the bowl with a lid and pop in the fridge for another 4-24 hours but try not to surpass 24 hours or the bananas will want to turn brown which is totally fine in flavor, but it won’t look as pretty. Again, it must set for at least 4 hours for the wafers to soften so patience is key…and well worth the wait! The longer it’s in the fridge, the more cake-like the wafers will become

Step 5

Serve it right out of the trifle bowl and enjoy!