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Layers of cake, rich vanilla pudding, and juicy strawberries make for a delicious and impressive no-bake dessert. Anyone who loves strawberry shortcake will be a fan of this easy strawberry trifle!
If you’re in my generation, there’s a certain 90s/early 2000s TV show that you probably think of when you hear the word “trifle.”
Listen, I do agree with Joey that all of the things that were in Rachel’s Thanksgiving trifle are good, but you won’t catch me eating them all together in the same dish, ok? Luckily, we can make a much better trifle ourselves.
I love making trifles because they are so easy but look so fancy! My brownie trifle is a big hit any time of year. I’ve also made ambrosia trifles at Easter and even pumpkin trifles during the fall.
My homemade banana pudding isn’t exactly a trifle, but it is beautiful when served up in a trifle dish. So we can let it into the trifle club.
This time we are making a fresh strawberry trifle. It’s a no-bake beauty that is perfect for summer gatherings or as a centerpiece for any holiday dessert table.
What is in my strawberry trifle?
There are many versions of strawberry trifles out there, but this recipe is the one that I love best.
For my version, we have layers of:
- Pound cake or angel food cake
- Homemade vanilla pudding lightened with homemade whipped cream
- Fresh macerated strawberries
The finished trifle gets finished with a bit more of the whipped cream and some more fresh strawberries if you’re feeling fancy.
Even though you could make this strawberry trifle with homemade cream cheese pound cake or homemade angel food cake, I usually just use the store-bought stuff. I save my effort for making the vanilla pudding instead.
And if you’re using store-bought cake, it’s a dessert that requires zero baking time, so it’s great to make during the summer when it’s too hot to turn the oven on. You could even have your kids help with this one! Just supervise slicing the strawberries and cake and let them handle the layers.
How to make this strawberry trifle
Before you get started on this strawberry trifle, pop the beaters for your electric hand mixer and a bowl into the freezer for 15-20 minutes. This will help later when we whip the cream.
Slice the strawberries and place them in a bowl with the granulated sugar. Toss to combine, then let the berries sit for 20-30 minutes. The sugar will dissolve and the berries will release their juices.
Use a large, serrated knife to cut the cake into cubes. Set these aside.
Now that the beaters for your mixer are cold, pour the cream into the cold bowl and beat on medium speed until the cream starts to thicken. Increase the mixer to high speed and beat until stiff peaks form.
Set aside about 2 cups of the whipped cream; store it in the refrigerator until ready to use.
In a separate large bowl, stir about 1 cup of the remaining whipped cream into the vanilla pudding. This will help lighten the mixture to make it easier to fold in the rest of the whipped cream.
Gently fold in the rest of the whipped cream, about ⅓ at a time, until no streaks remain.
Now it’s time to assemble the trifle!
Grab your favorite trifle dish. Layer ¼ of the cake cubes into the bottom, then top with ¼ of the strawberries. Don’t forget to include some of the juice from the berries!
Top the strawberries with ¼ of the pudding mixture. Repeat the layers, ending with the last of the pudding mixture.
Top the trifle with the reserved whipped cream you stored in the fridge earlier. Chill the trifle for at least 1 hour before serving.
If you’d like, garnish the top of the trifle with additional strawberries and a sprig of fresh mint before serving.
Strawberry trifle is best served the day that it is made; otherwise, the cake gets a bit too mushy and the strawberries get a bit too weepy to serve to guests. You can certainly store any leftovers in the refrigerator for up to a day for you to enjoy, though!
Recipe variations
I mentioned above that I love making this strawberry trifle recipe with store-bought pound cake or angel food cake and homemade vanilla pudding, but there are plenty of ways you can change this recipe up.
If you don’t want to make your own vanilla pudding, use a 5.1-ounce package of instant vanilla pudding mix or a 4.6-ounce cook-and-serve vanilla pudding mix and make it according to the package directions.
Pound cake and angel food cake are the most popular cakes to use in trifles like this. But you could also use the cake from my strawberry shortcake recipe or even use a homemade yellow cake.
And yeah, I know this is a strawberry trifle recipe. But you don’t have to use strawberries! Try using your favorite fresh fruits, such as raspberries, blackberries, or even peaches for a peach trifle version!
FAQs
Be careful swapping out whipped topping for the whipped cream in this recipe. Cool Whip and other whipped toppings are sweetened, so they will make the pudding mixture sweeter and could make the entire dessert too sweet.
If you want to use whipped topping, I suggest cutting back on the sugar in the strawberries to try to balance out the sweetness.
I really recommend using fresh fruit in this trifle. Frozen strawberries get a little too mushy once they thaw to use in this recipe.
If you do need to use frozen fruit, try using frozen peaches instead. They hold up a little better after thawing.
If you don’t have a trifle dish, you can assemble this strawberry trifle in a large glass mixing bowl instead.
Strawberry Trifle
Ingredients
- 2 pounds fresh strawberries
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 loaf pound cake or 1 (10-inch) angel food cake
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream cold
- 1 batch homemade vanilla pudding chilled
Instructions
- Place the beaters for your electric hand mixer in the freezer to get cold while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. This will help the cream to whip better later. If you plan to use a metal bowl, you can also chill that.
- Slice the strawberries and add them to a bowl. Stir in the granulated sugar. Allow the berries to sit for 20-30 minutes.
- Using a serrated knife, cut the cake into cubes. Set aside.
- Once the mixer beaters are cold, pour the cold cream into a large mixing bowl. Mix on medium speed until the cream starts to thicken, then increase the speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form.
- Set aside about 2 cups of the whipped cream. Keep in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- In a separate large bowl, stir about 1 cup of the remaining whipped cream into the vanilla pudding. Don’t worry about gently folding it in yet; this addition is just to help lighten the mixture.
- Add the rest of the remaining whipped cream, about ⅓ at a time, gently folding it with a spatula into the pudding until no streaks remain. If needed, pop this back into the refrigerator until ready to assemble.
- To assemble the trifle, layer ¼ of the cake cubes into the bottom of a trifle dish. Top with ¼ of the macerated strawberries, making sure to include some of their juices. Top the strawberries with ¼ of the pudding mixture. Repeat the layers, ending with the last of the pudding mixture.
- Top the trifle with the reserved whipped cream. Chill for at least 1 hour before serving. If desired, garnish with additional strawberries and a sprig of fresh mint.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
My family loved this! Delicious!
So happy to hear that! Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing. Happy baking!
Jamie
Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Thank you for stopping by and commenting! Happy baking –
Jamie