This Berry Trifle is the ultimate “took almost no effort” dessert, that just happens to be a total showstopper! With just a few simple ingredients layered up in a pretty glass dish, it looks like something you’d find in a bakery window—but comes together in under 20 minutes. It’s the kind of dessert that gets all the oohs and ahhs, and you didn’t even have to turn on the oven.
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What Is A Trifle
A trifle is a traditional English layered dessert. It generally has multiple sponge cake layers, pudding or custard layers and fruit layers. This Berry Cheesecake Trifle recipe isn’t necessarily traditional. Here we are subbing some of the traditional layers for a different flavor profile:
- A mixture of cream cheese, sour cream, and whipped cream flavored with almond extract and orange are layered in place of the custard/pudding.
- We are using a delicate store bought angel food cake in place of a traditional sponge cake.
- A mixture of fresh berries and mandarin oranges pair perfectly with the “cheesecake” style layer.
Ingredient Details
Angel Food Cake – we keep this recipe super simple and grab a store bought one from the local grocery baker.
Cream Cheese and Sour Cream – mix together to make a lightly flavored cheesecake cream filling for the trifle. Make sure to use full fat- and make sure the cream cheese is at room temp so it will blend smooth! (pictured are 2 blocks of cream cheese, but you just need 1)
Orange- the juice and zest of a fresh orange flavor up the whipped cream perfectly!
Almond Extract – also flavors the trifle cream. If you don’t love almond extract you can sub vanilla extract.
Heavy Cream – use COLD heavy cream to make the best whipped cream. The whipped cream lightens up the texture of the cream filling, so it isn’t a “heavy” cheesecake filling.
Powdered Sugar – this is the perfect sweetener for the cream filling. It blends into the mixture without making it gritty.
Fruit and Berries – we have found our very favorite combo is strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and mandarin oranges. Sweeten it up with a little sugar to make the berries juicy and sweet.
How To Make Berry Trifle
This is a quick overview of how to make each component of the trifle – cake, cheesecake cream, and the fruit/berries. For more details and ingredient amounts, pop down to the recipe card.
Step 1
Wash and cut your fruit, drain the mandarin oranges. Mix with the sugar and set aside.
Step 2
Cut the angel food cake into ½-1 inch pieces. I like to divide it into 3 equal piles to make layering more even.
Step 3
Whip the cream with the orange juice and zest. Then set aside. Mix the sour cream, cream cheese, powdered sugar and extract. Fold the whipped cream and cream cheese mixtures together.
Step 4
Now you have all the 3 parts to layer your trifle!
Step 5
Grab your trifle bowl and it is time to layer this up!! Skip down to the next section for exact instructions on how to layer a trifle.
Layering a Trifle
The traditional way to layer a trifle is cake, cream, fruit, and repeat until it is layered to the top. If you need a visual representation of this, check out the photos below:
- Step 1: Start with a layer of ¼ of the cream on the bottom of the bowl, then ⅓ of the cake cubes.
- Step 2: Top with ⅓ of the fruit mixture.
- Step 3: Repeat the layering – ¼ of the cream mixture, ⅓ of the cake and ⅓ of the berries/fruit.
- Step 4: Then the final layering- ¼ of the cream mixture, ⅓ of the cake and ⅓ of the berries/fruit.
- Step 5: Finish the top with the remaining cream. Then you can garnish with whole fruit and mint.
Recipe tips to remember
- Choose a clear glass trifle bowl so you can see all the stunning layers of this dessert!
- Make sure your cream cheese is at room temp.
- If almond extract isn’t your jam, sub in vanilla extract.
- Use a store bought angel food cake to make this recipe super easy.
- Cube the cake into ½-1 inch pieces.
- Choose ripe fruit, but add sugar to sweeten it up a little.
- Also choose your favorite combo or berries.
- Refrigerate for 1-3 hours before serving.
More Trifle Recipes
Fruit and Berry Cheesecake Trifle Recipe
Equipment
- 9″ Trifle Bowl or similar
Ingredients
Trifle Cream
- 8 oz cream cheese - softened at room temp.
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- ½ cup sour cream
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
- 2 cups heavy cream - cold
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 1 tablespoon orange juice
Cake
- 1 store bought angel food cake - cut into 1 inch cubes
Fruit & Berries
- 3 ½ cups thick cut fresh strawberries, blueberries, raspberries
- 15 oz mandarin oranges - in juice, drained
- 1-2 tablespoon Sugar - depending on how sweet your fruit is
Instructions
- In a bowl, add all the fruit, mix with the sugar and set aside while you make the trifle cream cheesecake mixture.3 ½ cups thick cut fresh strawberries, blueberries, raspberries
- Cut or tear the angel food cake into smaller pieces, approx. ½-1 inch each. I like to divide them into 3 even piles so layering is equal.
- In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, or a bowl with a handheld mixer, add the cold heavy cream, orange zest and orange juice. whisk until it forms med/firm peaks, this will take a few minutes most likely. Remove to a separate bowl and set aside.2 cups heavy cream, 1 tablespoon orange juice, 1 teaspoon orange zest
- In the now (mostly) empty bowl, add the softened cream cheese, sour cream, almond extract. Blend until it is mixed together. Slowly pour in the powdered sugar and blend until it is smooth.8 oz cream cheese, 2 cups powdered sugar, ½ teaspoon almond extract, ½ cup sour cream
- Fold the orange whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture.
- Time to layer:¼ Trifle Cream, ⅓ Cake, ⅓ Fruit Mixture¼ Trifle Cream, ⅓ Cake, ⅓ Fruit Mixture¼ Trifle Cream, ⅓ Cake, ⅓ Fruit MixtureFinish with the Remaining Cream.1 store bought angel food cake
- Cover and refrigerate for 2- 3 hours, until it is time to serve. Optionally garnish with large whole strawberries/berries and mint.
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