Easy Strawberry Trifle with Pound Cake
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The sweet strawberries, creamy pudding and pound cake really come together and scream deliciousness in this super easy strawberry trifle with pound cake recipe. This strawberry dessert will be a complete hit with all your guests!
Easy Strawberry Trifle with Pound Cake Recipe:
Don’t you just love strawberry season?
I’ve written about it a few times before, but we have a fantastic little strawberry farm about 30 minutes down the road. I’ve taken the kids there every year since my youngest was 2. (I have some of the cutest pictures of them in the strawberries.)
In the last few years we’ve timed our visit so we were able to pick strawberries, blackberries, potatoes and a couple of times, even peaches.
We plan to hit the farm up for strawberries and blackberries this coming Friday since will be out of school. (No peaches this year, we had a late March freeze that froze all the blooms.)
So in the meantime, I’ve been having to make my strawberry recipes with just regular ol’ grocery store strawberries. (Poor me, lol.)
The Best Dessert Recipe for Fresh Strawberries:
Today I want to share a favorite dessert recipe for fresh strawberries: this easy Strawberry Trifle with Pound Cake Recipe. (And yes, at one point, I totally had to google whether trifle was pronounced with a short I or long I, lol. Listen how to pronounce trifle here.)
Is strawberry trifle made with angel food cake or pound cake?
Traditionally, trifles are made with a type of sponge cake and soaked with sherry. There are plenty of easy trifle recipes out on the web. Some use angel food cake and others use pound cake. (Angel food cake is similar to sponge cake, but without egg yolks and pound cake is a sponge cake with butter.)
In my opinion, and the reason I use pound cake in this recipe, is that the pound cake holds up better and helps the trifle last longer in the fridge. Pound cake also just tastes better -rich, buttery – yum! (After all, pound cake gets its name from the pound of butter used in the original recipe.
How many layers does a trifle have?
This strawberry trifle recipe has 3 layers of 3 ingredients, so 9 layers total. (Pound cake layer, pudding layer, fruit layer, then repeat the layers 2 more times.) The good news is, trifle recipes are super flexible.
Depending on the serving dish, you could do one set of three layers (like a banana pudding would be) or 2 sets of three, 3 sets of three, etc. Whatever works for you. The taste will be the same, but the presentation will look different.
What is the Best Dish to Serve a Trifle In?
Believe it or not, the dish I used in these photos is called a Trifle Bowl. A trifle bowl is made of clear glass and usually has straight sides and a flat-ish bottom to show off the layers of your recipe.
I am pretty sure I purchased my trifle bowl from a Walmart store. In case you are wondering, the bowl I used is 8 inches in diameter and 5 inches deep. Here is a similar trifle bowl on amazon. (I also have the mini trifle bowls, I love them, but I didn’t enough to do this recipe in. I mainly use those small trifle bowls when making pudding – everybody gets an equal serving.)
What’s the secret to making the best trifle?
The secret to why this trifle recipe is so yummy is I use macerated strawberries, which makes the strawberries even yummier. By adding sugar to fresh strawberries, the sugar pulls the liquid out of the strawberries and makes a strawberry sugar syrup. You then will pour the strawberry syrup over the pound cake layers. The pound cake absorbs all that yummy strawberry sweetness for even better flavor!
Ingredients in Strawberry Trifle:
If you’re heading to the store, these are the ingredients to add to your list:
- 2 lbs container of Strawberries
- sugar
- large box of instant vanilla pudding (the one with 6 servings)
- tub of cool whip
- 16 oz pound cake
How to make this Easy Strawberry Trifle:
You’ll love how easy this is to make!
- Start with your quartered strawberries and add the sugar to start the macerating process.
- Slice a store bought pound cake into cubes.
- Make the pudding mixture and give the strawberries and pudding about 30 more minutes in the fridge.
- Put together your layers and Voilà! You’ve made a Strawberry Trifle!
How amazing would it have been if I had added a layer of blueberries to the trifle for a red, white and blue berry trifle!
Can trifle be made the day before?
Technically, you can make a trifle the day before, but this recipe is at its best between 4 and 24 hours. so plan your preparation accordingly. (This trifle recipe will last 3 to 4 days in the fridge. It will still taste great, but the older it gets, the looser the trifle becomes as the strawberries begin soften more. (Sugar is a natural preservative and by macerating the strawberries, it not only intensifies the flavors of the berry, it also helps extend the life of the berries.)
How good does that look? The sweet strawberries, creamy pudding and pound cake really come together and scream deliciousness in this super easy strawberry trifle recipe. They say a photo can speak a 1000 words, and I just I don’t think I can say more than the photo below does, lol. You have to make this trifle recipe at your very next opportunity.
Still have strawberry leftovers? Here are a bunch more strawberry dessert recipes using fresh strawberries that you might also like to try:
- Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream
- Baked Mini Strawberry Pies
- Strawberry Lemonade Slushies
- Summer Berry Frozen Yogurt Bars
- Quick and Easy Strawberry Jam Recipe
- No Bake Mini Strawberry Cheesecake Bites
Easy Strawberry Trifle with Pound Cake
- Prep Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes plus time in fridge
- Yield: 12 servings
Description
The sweet strawberries, creamy pudding and pound cake really come together and scream deliciousness in this super easy strawberry trifle recipe. This strawberry dessert will be a complete hit with all your guests!
Ingredients
- 32 oz (2 lbs container) fresh strawberries
- 16 oz container pound cake, cubed
- Package of instant vanilla pudding (the one with 6 servings)
- 3 cups milk (for the pudding)
- 8 oz tub of Cool Whip
- 1/2 cup sugar
Instructions
- Add the sugar to the strawberries and toss to coat. Set aside in the fridge for 30 minutes, tossing at least once or twice more..
- Prepare the pudding as directed. Gently fold in Cool Whip. Set aside in the fridge, til needed.
- After the strawberries have sat with the sugar for at least 30 minutes, strain the strawberry sugar syrup into a container with a pourable lip. (That way you won’t waste any of that sweet strawberry syrup.)
- Layer your ingredients into the trifle bowl in this order: 1/3 pound cake, then pour 1/3 of strawberry syrup over the pound cake, 1/3 of pudding mixture and then 2/5 of strawberries. Repeat these layers twice more, the final layer of strawberries should be slightly less. (1/5 verses the 2/5 used in earlier layers)
- Refrigerate strawberry trifle for at least 2 hours before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition calculated with original cool whip, non-sugar-free pudding, and 2% milk. I have used sugar-free pudding and cool whip light and the strawberry trifle is just as good.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/12 of recipe
- Calories: 200
- Fat: 5
- Carbohydrates: 39
- Fiber: 2
- Protein: 3
Keywords: strawberry trifle, strawberry dessers
This was super easy and fun to make. The family loved it!
★★★★★
The most delicious trifle. They cleaned the bowl. yummy.
★★★★★
I tried it! It came out great.
★★★★★
Can you please say how many ppl can eat in this? For the 1x servings? Thanks! Cant wait to try 🙂
+/- 12 servings
This was AMAZINGLY yummy! Perfect to feed a crowd, so you will want to bring this to a potluck or serve it at a large gathering you are hosting. Everyone loved it and it couldn’t be easier. You can add other berries in addition to strawberries if you have some you need to use up.
★★★★★
The whole family gave this two thumbs up. Light and delicious!
★★★★★
Was a huge hit at our summer party!
★★★★★
I made this yesterday & it was absolutely amazing! Family loved it!
★★★★★
Delicious…
★★★★★
Do you make the pudding with boiling milk and then cool?
no, instant pudding, but if you use the cook kind, then definitely let it cool!
Just made this for our Memorial Day cookout. Gave my hubby a little bowl to test out and he said I can’t take it. It needs to stay at home! Great balance of sweet but not too sweet. Thank you!
★★★★★
One of our faves too, lol!
Loved this! I used whipping cream in place of cool whip and it was delicious. I’ll be making this again maybe add blueberries for the 4th of July!
★★★★★
Cheesecake pudding works perfect too!!!
★★★★★
I made this for my daughter’s birthday. So easy and DELICIOUS all gone!
I tried it with chocolate cake, chocolate pudding, and canned cherry pie filling. Topped it with cool whip, and swirled in a little pudding and cherry juice, and cake crumbs. I was quite happy with my “black forest” Trifle!!
★★★★★
Do you think I could substitute pistachio pudding for vanilla pudding, flavor wise? I’ve never mixed strawberries with pistachio…
I have not tried it. If you do, pleas come back and report how it was!
It was delicious and Christmassy!! Is that even a word? Anyway, the green of the pistachio pudding made it look like Christmas in a trifle bowl!
Great, easy to follow recipe…if one reads it correctly. ? It was so good the trifle dish was broken by people trying to scrape more out!! Oops! Broken glass not yummy. ?
Thank you for sharing!
You don’t tell us the size container of Cool whip, not everyone knows. Plus, you don’t say to make the pudding according to pkg directions then fold in the Cool whip.
I know people would like more instructions. I bake with my 14 g-daughter.
umm… yes I did. Look in the recipe card.
I don’t think you read the recipe too well. All amounts and directions are clearly given.
Can you make this the night before?
My guess is no more than 16 or so hours before. The strawberries will start to get watery. It will still taste great, but the trifle will become “looser”
I believe it’s 5.1 vs 1.5 oz pudding that’s listed……
It’s the one that has 6 servings.
In adding the Sweetened condensed milk to the pudding, do you also use the regular milk?
Hi Paula, I don’t use sweetened condensed milk in this recipe.
Can not wait to make this again so good and so easy
❤
★★★★★
is it 1.5 oz or the larger pudding box size? I got the 3.4 oz box
yes, the one with 6 servings.
My husband wasn’t suppose to be home for Valentine’s Day so I didn’t have anything planned. I had a bag of frozen strawberries and blueberries in the freezer so I pulled them out and thawed and whipped this up for dessert.
I’ve been making this for years and it is a favorite, tasty spring treat. The only thing I do differently, is add Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk to the pudding mixture… definitely an extra pop of yum. I also sprinkle the top with slivered almonds. So good. ?
★★★★★
I bet that is good!
Rebecca – do you replace the 3 cups of milk with sweetened condensed milk or 50/50?
Thanks…
You need the milk to make the pudding. Another variation of this recipe is to, in a separate bowl, mix 8 oz of softened cream cheese with 14 oz of sweetened condensed milk. Then, when making the pudding, reduce the amount of milk by one cup. Then fold the cream cheese mixture into the pudding and use as directed. It is very good.
Have you tried this with other fruit?
You are right about the macerated strawberries. I made this for a pot luck party at my office last week and I have 5 different people ask me for the recipe.
★★★★★
This was so good. No leftovers.
★★★★★
Made this last week, amazing!
★★★★★
omg, this looks amazing!!!
★★★★★