Summer Berry Trifle
This berry trifle is a fun and easy no-bake summer dessert! It’s filled with layers of fresh berries, whipped cream and store-bought vanilla cake.
Ingredients
Macerated Berries Layers:
- 1 lb fresh strawberries , chopped (455 grams, about 2½ cups)
- 1 cup fresh raspberries (140 grams)
- 1 cup fresh blueberries (160 grams)
- 1 cup fresh blackberries (140 grams)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar (50 grams)
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 2 Tbsp orange liqueur , such as Gran Gala or Cointreau (optional, see Notes)
Whipped Cream Layers:
- 8 oz cream cheese , softened to room temperature (226 grams)
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream , cold (455 grams)
- ½ cup granulated sugar (100 grams)
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Cake Layers:
- 8-10 cups cubed store-bought vanilla cake , such as pound cake or angel food cake (about 455 grams, see Notes)
Instructions
To prepare macerated berries:
- Add half of berries to a bowl with sugar and mash gently with a fork until lightly smashed and sugar is dissolved. Add remaining berries, lemon juice and liqueur (or vanilla) and stir until combined. Let berries sit for 20 minutes while you get everything else ready.
To make whipped cream:
- Using an electric mixer beat cream cheese with sugar and vanilla until smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Transfer mixture to another bowl and set aside. Do not clean mixer bowl.
- Beat heavy whipping cream to soft peaks on medium high speed. Reduce speed to low and add cream cheese mixture a spoonful at a time while the mixer is running. Mixture will be a little lumpy at first, continue to beat until smooth and fluffy.
To prepare the cake cubes:
- Slice cake into 1-inch pieces.
To assemble berry trifle:
- Add a third of cake cubes (about 2-3 cups) to the bottom of a trifle dish. Top with a third of the berries, making sure to get some of the juices and drizzle them over the cake. Spread a third of the whipped cream over the berries.
- Repeat 2 more times so you have 3 layers each of cake, berries and cream, ending with the whipped cream. Go slowly to keep layers looking clean and even in the dish.
- If desired, add some berries on top as a garnish before serving. Serve right away or within 24 hours for best results (store in the refrigerator if serve time is more than 1 hour after assembly).
Notes
- Use any combination of strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and/or blackberries for this recipe. You'll need about 4-5 cups total.
- If you don't want to use liqueur, simply leave it out and add 1 tsp vanilla extract to macerated berries.
- Exact amount of cake can be varied, based on your trifle dish and size of store-bought cake. The trifle dished used to develop this recipe was 8 inches and held about 3 quarts.
- A yellow boxed cake mix will also work well for the cake cubes in this recipe. Prepare and bake in a 9x13-inch pan, cool, and cut into cubes. You will need about 2/3 of the cake for this recipe.