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This trifle recipe is the perfect summer dessert! It’s light, no-bake and filled with layers of angel food cake, pudding and fresh berries.
Easy Homemade Trifle
This simple trifle recipe is completely addicting and full of some of my favorite things! It has cake, it has whipped cream, and it has oodles of summer berries. What’s not to love?
The fruit and angel food cake in this dessert are super light, making this dessert perfect for warm summer days when you want something fresh and simple! Plus, trifles are typically great for making ahead. And if you happen to have a cake disaster, they are a great way to use up that cake. Just layer it in pieces with fruit and whipped cream, and you’ve got a great treat!
What Does Trifle Mean?
The word “trifle” comes from the old French term “trufle,” which literally means “something whimsical.” Traditionally, an English trifle would have layers of fruit, a sponge cake and custard that’s all topped with whipped cream.
American trifles tend to be about as easy as desserts come, consisting of layers of crumbled or cubed cake, pudding or some kind of filling and fruit. They also tend to have whipped cream instead of custard.
What You’ll Need
This trifle is made with layers of fresh berries, angel food cake, cheesecake flavored pudding and whipped cream. Although the finished dessert may look fancy, you only need a few simple ingredients to make this recipe.
- Instant cheesecake flavored pudding mix – You could also use vanilla pudding!
- Milk
- Angel food cake cut into pieces – You can use homemade angel food cake, or store bought. Pound cake or regular vanilla cake works too.
- Mixed berries – Strawberries, blueberries and raspberries
- Whipped Cream – I prefer homemade whipped cream, but you could also use Cool Whip or even this strawberry whipped cream!
How to Make a Trifle
One of the best things about trifles is that putting them together doesn’t require that much work. In fact, if you have kids around the house this is the perfect kind of recipe for them to help with! They can mix the pudding and help layer the berries, pudding, cake and whipped cream into your serving bowl.
Here’s how to do it:
Prepare your ingredients
- Make the pudding according to the package instructions
- Cut your angel food cake into cubes
- Gather your berries.
- Make your whipped cream if using homemade, or get your Cool Whip ready.
Assemble the trifle and chill
- In a trifle dish or serving bowl, layer about half of the angel food cake pieces.
- Top the cake pieces with about half of the pudding.
- Add a layer of berries, about 1/2 a cup of each kind of berry.
- Top the berries with whipped cream or Cool Whip.
- Repeat with one more layer of each layer, finishing with more berries on top.
- Decorate the top of your trifle as desired. I added some additional piped whipped cream and more berries.
- Refrigerate your trifle until you’re ready to serve. It should chill for at least one hour.
Variation Ideas
You can easily mix things up and adjust ingredients to make this dessert your own. For example:
- Replace the cheesecake flavored pudding with another flavor: While I love the cheesecake flavored pudding, vanilla would also work. And if you want to really change it up, you could even use a lemon flavored pudding.
- Replace the angel food cake with pound cake: I use angel food here just because I like the lightness of angel food, but pound cake would work too.
- Use different fruits: Like diced peaches, mangos and nectarines. Those would all go wonderfully with the berries too!
Can I Make a Trifle in Advance?
Definitely! Trifles do store well, but I wouldn’t make it more than a day ahead simply because the cake layers can start to get too soft and the fruit might not stay fresh.
Can I Freeze It?
I would not recommend freezing a trifle. The texture would change too much during the initial freezing process, and then again when you defrost it.
Watch How It’s Made
More Trifle Recipes to Try
- Strawberry Shortcake Trifle
- Peach Raspberry Sangria Trifle
- Oreo Cheesecake Brownie Trifle
- Easy Lemon Strawberry Trifle
Triple Berry Trifle Recipe
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 10-12
- Category: Dessert
- Method: No Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
This Triple Berry Trifle recipe is easy to make and so delicious! It’s a light, no bake dessert that’s filled with layers of angel food cake, pudding & fresh berries. This trifle is perfect for parties and holidays!
Ingredients
- two 3.4 oz packages instant cheesecake flavored pudding mix*
- 4 cups (960ml) milk
- 1 1/2 cups (360ml) heavy whipping cream, cold
- 3/4 cup (86g) powdered sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- Angel food cake (about 12 oz), cut into pieces
- 1 cup (156g) chopped strawberries*
- 1 cup (130g) blueberries*
- 1 cup (128g) raspberries*
- Additional berries for decorating
Instructions
- Add pudding mix and milk to a large bowl and whisk together for about 2 minutes. Set aside.
- Add the heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract to a large mixer bowl and whip on high speed until it reaches stiff peaks. Set aside.
- Add about half of the angel food cake pieces to the trifle dish in an even layer. Place pieces around the edge first so that they look nice, then fill in the center.
- Top the cake with about 1/2 of the prepared pudding.
- Add some sliced strawberries around the edge of the trifle dish, where you’ll be putting the berries. Fill in the layer with about 1/2 a cup of each kind of berry.
- Top the berries with about half of the cool whip and spread into an even layer.
- Repeat steps 2-4, then pipe the remaining whipped cream on top of the trifle in a fun design. I piped shells around the outer edge a few times.
- Fill in the center of the whipped cream with additional berries and decorate as desired.
- Refrigerate for about 2-3 hours, until ready to serve. Trifle is best stored covered in the fridge and eaten within 1-3 days.
Notes
- The pudding could be replaced with vanilla flavored pudding if you can’t find the cheesecake flavored pudding
- I’d recommend having two containers of each type of berry, just to be sure you have enough.
- If you’d prefer to use Cool Whip over homemade whipped cream, replace the heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract with 12 oz of Cool Whip.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 344
- Sugar: 45.5 g
- Sodium: 580.1 mg
- Fat: 6.8 g
- Carbohydrates: 62.7 g
- Protein: 9.5 g
- Cholesterol: 12.6 mg
Categories
Enjoy!
I have made this recipe countless times already. My eldest grandson turned 16 this past August. His request was simple. He didn’t want a birthday cake of any sort but he did want this trifle. And it’s been requested once again for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Thank you Lindsay for making such an iconic dessert fast, easy and delicious!
Aww, that’s so great to hear! I’m glad it’s been a hit!
Such a great recipe. I have it requested often. I have to buy lots of the pudding at once so I have it on hand because it gets requested so often!
Awesome! So glad to hear that!
Wonderful recipe. Since some family is diabetic, I use sugar free pudding mix, no sugar added angel food cake, and no sugar added or low fat cool whip. Still tastes delicious nd everyone raves about it!!!!
I’m so glad it’s a hit!
This is a go to from now on. I made it yesterday and my grandson insists it be included in his next birthday party or any future event for that matter. Thank you for such an easy and wonderfully delicious dessert.
Awesome! So glad to hear that!
Hi – Do I make the pudding as per the directions on the pudding box or just mix the pudding powder with milk and add it to the trifle. Thank You, Amy
I would make the pudding per the directions on the box. For the pudding I use, that means adding it to milk and stirring it. Yours may be different I suppose.
I made this trifle for an office Birthday party and they said they loved it. Also when prepared it makes a beautiful statement without requiring too much work!!
Thanks for the trifle recipe and all the helps!
I’m glad it was a hit!
I’ve made your recipe a few times now & I totally agree with all your substitution suggestions because I’ve tried them all! It’s a can’t miss usually no left overs dessert! Just so easy, beautiful presentation & scrumptious. As well, for those looking for exact amounts – that’s entirely up for interpretation based on how big your container/crowd is. That’s the beauty of this dessert. Just go with what is available & what looks good-you won’t be disappointed!
I’m so glad to hear you’ve enjoyed it!
This is delicious! I halved the recipe and made individual servings. It’s an impressive looking dessert that’s so easy to make. We loved it!
So glad you enjoyed it!
This recipe is amazing, so light and fluffy. Always a big hit at gatherings.
So glad it’s been a hit!
Hi, I am so excited to try this recipe, it looks amazing! However, I don’t have any blueberries or raspberry’s can I sub these with frozen fruit?
I personally wouldn’t recommend frozen fruit in this case. I think it’d be kind of mushy.
For years I’ve used frozen fruit in trifle, which I either defrost overnight in the refrigerator and drain, or add it frozen if I won’t be serving the trifle for a few hours. Never had a problem with the fruit turning mushy.
Could I try this with pound cake? Angel food cake is not my favorite.
I’ve made it with pound cake and it turned out great!
Great recipe! Just sad some ingredients aren’t available to us here in the UK. I have to correct you slightly on the English trifle; usually the sponge goes at the bottom followed by either fruit and jelly or just jelly (jello) then custard and lastly the cream. In old times it will have likely been without jelly so just fruit but always with the sponge at the bottom. Your trifle looks delicious! I love a lot of your recipes but we work in metrics (grams) so if possible could you translate pretty please. Thank you 😘
I love trifles and this one looks amazing.
One question. What size bowl did you use. Trifle bowls come in different sizes. Thank you.
This is delicious. I have made it with sugar-free pudding for my diabetic sister and 2 boxes is plenty. I’ve also used frozen berries but I do thaw them first so they don’t make the trifle soggy. My favorite is to substitute white chocolate pudding for the cheesecake pudding.
My family has made this dessert often through the years but with some small changes. For the pudding, we mix two small boxes of vanilla instant pudding, 3 cups of milk, half a teaspoon of rum extract (I add more to taste at times), and then fold a about half of a container of Cool Whip into it. Our layers end up being angel food cake, pudding mixture, fruit, etc. Then we top with the remaining Cool Whip and berries as decoration!
Sounds delicious. Traditonally, English trifle is made with some sherry, which is also amazing!
Would this recipe be better in a 3 qt or 4 qt trifle bowl?