Easy Berry Trifle Recipe
A simple and elegant Berry Trifle recipe with layers of pound cake, sweetened whipped cream, and juicy fresh berries. A no-fuss dessert for summer holidays, Christmas, and afternoon tea.
Servings: 12 servings
Calories: 368kcal
Ingredients
- 1 pound cake store-bought or homemade, sliced
- 2 (6-ounce) containers of blueberries (about 2 cups)
- 1 ½ quarts strawberries
- 16 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream
- 2 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- fresh mint sprigs for serving
Instructions
- Hull and halve the strawberries. Reserve 1 cup of mixed berries to garnish the top of the trifle.
- Cut the pound cake into 1 to 1½-inch squares.
- In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, whip the cream until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
Pastry Cream
- Into another bowl, add the room temperature cream cheese and confectioner's sugar; beat until smooth and creamy. Then, beat in the vanilla and ⅓ of the whipped cream. With a spatula, fold in the remaining whipped cream until combined. I like to add the pastry cream to a large ziplock bag with the corner snipped off. It makes it easy to add the cream to the trifle dish with smearing it on the sides.
Assemble the trifle:
- Begin and end with a pastry cream layer as follows: Add ⅓ of the pastry cream to the bottom of the trifle dish. Top with ½ of the cubed pound cake and ½ of the berries. Then add a second layer of pastry cream, followed by remaining cubed pound cake and remaining berries. Add a final pastry cream layer to the top.
Serving:
- If serving immediately, top with reserved berries and add sprigs of fresh mint. If serving later, cover and store in the refrigerator up to 24 hours. Just before serving, decorate the top with berries and sprigs of mint.
Notes
- Pound cake: Store-bought pound cake makes this recipe quick and easy to prepare. While I enjoy baking my own, sometimes it's more convenient to buy pre-made. When shopping at Costco, I use about 1 and ½ loaves from a 7 x 3-inch pack of three. Here is my go-to pound cake recipe if you want to make your own.
- Cake options: Pound cake is classic, but angel food or sponge work well too.
- For a festive look: Garnish with mint or lemon zest before serving.
- How to prep ahead: Trifles are simple to prep in advance. Many believe the dish is at peak flavor and texture from 4 to 24 hours after making. However, because whipping cream can become soft, for the best presentation of the trifle, I generally prefer to prep the ingredients ahead, make the cream on the day of, and assemble the trifle shortly before serving.
- Berries: Wash the berries the night before. Place two layers of paper towels on a sheet pan, then lay the washed berries on the top. This helps to absorb additional moisture. You want the berries as dry as possible when making a trifle.
- Pound Cake: If you're making the pound cake, be sure to make that ahead. Let cool, and then cut into about 1-inch cubes. If using store-bought pound cake, cube the night before and store it in a ziplock bag.
Nutrition
Serving: 1g | Calories: 368kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 75mg | Sodium: 148mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 29g