Easy Trifle Recipe

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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

Read Transcript

More Trifle Recipes to Try

• Strawberry Shortcake Trifle
• Peach Raspberry Sangria Trifle
• Oreo Cheesecake Brownie Trifle
• Easy Lemon Strawberry Trifle

Print

Enjoy!