This Angel Berry Trifle is so easy and perfect for Easter. This berry trifle is made with angel food cake and an out of this world vanilla pudding cream cheese custard.
Angel Berry Trifle
If a berry trifle made with angel food cake is not going to get you thinking of summer, I don’t know what will. This trifle is sunshine, it’s a glimpse of the summer we wish so desperately to come. This is the perfect trifle for an Easter brunch, especially when you’re in charge of dessert. The great thing about trifles is that they really are super simple to prepare and assemble.
What Is a Trifle?
If you’ve never had a trifle before, I very strongly urge you to make this. A trifle is usually a layered dessert made with berries or fruits, a cake of some sort, and whipped or custard layer. I, for one, simply adore trifles.
The best thing about them is that they’re not as unhealthy as one may think. You can use fat free cream cheese, fat free yogurt and sour cream and sugar free pudding. Totally up to you! I find using low-fat/ low-sugar substitutes makes no difference in taste.
Ingredients in Angel Berry Trifle
Keep scrolling for the full recipe and ingredient amounts. For this recipe you will need:
- Instant vanilla pudding – You can use any brand of pudding, just make sure that the package is 1 oz/ 28 g.
- 1 1/2 cups milk – I used less milk than what was called for on the pudding package. I wanted it to come out a little thicker to really help the custard layer hold together with all those fruits layered on top.
- Vanilla yogurt – I wanted this layer to turn out white to create beautiful contrast in the trifle. You can also use berry flavored yogurt if you don’t mind the color, it will taste awesome!
- Cream cheese – I used whipped cream cheese but regular cream cheese will work.
- Sour cream – Trust me here! I know it seems odd to put sour cream in a dessert, but it adds such a nice, smooth, rich consistency to the custard layer with a little bit of tang.
- Whipped topping – I used a container of cool whip, but you can whip up some fresh whipped cream if you prefer. Don’t use any whipped cream that comes from a can as it will liquify.
- Angel food cake – You can, of course, use homemade angel food cake, but I’m going for a fast and easy dessert here which is why I used store-bought.
- Strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries – You can use any berries you like. Blueberries would also be awesome here.
How To Make Angle Berry Trifle
- Make the pudding layer – Using either a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, hand mixer, or whisk, combine the pudding mix with the milk until it thickens. Set aside. Add the yogurt, cream cheese, and sour cream to the bowl of your mixer and combine until smooth. Fold in the pudding and 1 cup of whipped topping.
- Assemble the trifle – Cube the angel food cake and place 1/3 of the cubes at the bottom of a 4 qt trifle bowl. Top with 1/3 of the pudding mixture, then 1/3 of the berries. Repeat, then arrange the final layer of berries as per the photo if you’d like.
- Serve – You can serve this trifle right away, or store it in the fridge until you’re ready to serve.
Can I Use Frozen Berries?
The beauty of this trifle is that it’s pretty quick to put together, and you could easily use frozen berries as well. I used strawberries, blackberries and raspberries, but really you can use whatever you have or like.
The only difference with using frozen berries is that they can be a little more liquidy, but don’t worry! Those pieces of cake will soak up all that amazing fruit juice.
Can I Make Angel Berry Trifle in Advance?
Yes, absolutely! Trifle has to be the best dessert to make ahead of time. The cake has an opportunity to soak up all those amazing flavors, and I think it actually gets better when it has a chance to sit and hang out.
You can make this trifle up to 3 days in advance. Store covered in the fridge. If you make this in advance, I would suggest leaving the final layer of berries off until right before you serve it to avoid the juices bleeding.
Can I Freeze Trifle?
This is not a very freezer friendly dessert. Since there is a lot of moisture both in the berries and the pudding layer, there will be a lot of liquid coming out and making your trifle soggy as it thaws.
Looking for More Spring Time Sweets? Try These Recipes!
- Lemon Bars
- Cinnabons Cinnamon Rolls
- Sex in a Pan
- Hot Cross Buns
- Strawberry Rolls with Cream Cheese Icing
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Angel Berry Trifle
Ingredients
- 1 oz instant sugar free vanilla pudding (1 package)
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1 cup vanilla yogurt
- 6 oz cream cheese I used whipped cream cheese
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 12 oz whipped cream I used cool whip
- 1 angel food cake prepared and cut into cubes
- 2 cups strawberries chopped
- 2 cups raspberries
- 2 cups blackberries
Instructions
- In your mixer whisk the milk and pudding mix together for a couple minutes or until firm. Pour into another bowl and set aside.
- In the bowl of your mixer add yogurt, cream cheese and sour cream and beat until smooth. Fold in pudding and 1 cup of the whipped topping.
- Place a third of the angel food cake cubes in a 4 quart trifle bowl. Top with a third of the pudding mixture, half of the remaining whipped topping and a third of the berries. Repeat layers once. Top with remaining cake, pudding and berries.
- Serve immediately or refrigerate.
Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition Information:
Originally posted April 2014. Updated with new photos, process photos and video.
Each of my six family members came back for seconds for this dessert so it was a huge hit.! The addition of cream cheese and sour cream to a standard trifle is what upped the game on this recipe. But what is with the 1 oz of pudding mix? Don’t they only come in 3 or 5 oz sizes? In combining two recipes, I ended up using two 3oz., 3 cups of milk and no yogurt. That is the beauty of a trifle, most anything works. I used frozen berries and drained them pretty thoroughly so not too juicy. Delicious!
There are 1 oz boxes too. 🙂
Made this yesterday. It was a big hit. So easy to make. Everyone liked it because it’s a light dessert. Will definitely make this again it’s a keeper 😊
Nothing like an effortless hit! We’re glad you love it 🙂