What is a Trifle?
Trifle is a layered dessert served in a clear glass bowl or individual cup. The usual ingredients are a thin layer of sponge fingers or sponge cake soaked in sherry or another fortified wine, a fruit element, custard and whipped cream layered in that order in a glass dish. They are beautiful to serve and light in texture. They make a fancy appearance on your table so many believe that they are hard to make. Nothing could be farther from the truth. A trifle is easy to make and the bowl you serve it in can sometimes make it a show stopper in appearance. We are sharing a few of our favorite trifle recipes in this blog post. You can have fun making a trifle dessert.
There are a Variety of Trifle Recipes
Making a Trifle Dessert is not hard. You can vary your recipe with different flavors and add-ins. A Chocolate Trifle would include ingredients like chocolate brownies or cake, chocolate liqueur, chocolate pudding or chocolate chips. If you wanted to make a more fruit based trifle, you can add sliced strawberries to cubes of angel food cake that are layered with vanilla pudding.
What is the Best way to Layer a Trifle?
The beauty of a trifle is in its layers. For the most striking effect, assemble the dessert in a large glass bowl or a tall-sided glass trifle dish.
- Cake layer. Begin with pieces of baked cake or lady fingers.. Arrange them around the edge of the trifle dish first before filling in the center.
- Pudding layer. As you spoon on a layer of pudding or cream, pay close attention to creating a defined layer around the edge of the bowl for the prettiest presentation.
- Crunchy layer. Next, move onto the crunchy layer — either crushed crème sandwich cookies or English toffee candy bars.
- Whipped cream. Top with whipped cream, remembering to spoon the cream around the edge of the bowl first.
- Assemble the layers one more time, ending with a cloud of whipped cream.
- Sprinkle the top with any crumbs from the cookies, candy bars, cake, or lady fingers that remain on your cutting board.
Making a Trifle Dessert Ahead of Time?
Yes, you can. In fact making it the day before you are planning to serve it can enhance the flavors. It will give the cake layers time to absorb the moisture from the pudding and cream layers. You can store the trifle by covering the bowl with plastic wrap and putting it in your refrigerator. If your final cream layer flattens you can swoosh it back to shape with a spoon.
Chocolate Trifle Recipe:
INGREDIENTS
- 1 (8-ounce) container frozen whipped topping
- 1 (15.25-ounce) box chocolate cake mix, or 1 (18-ounce) package fudge brownie mix
- 1 to 3 large eggs (per package instructions)
- 1/4 to 3/4 cup water (per package instructions)
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil (or amount per package instructions)
- 2 (3.9-ounce) boxes instant chocolate pudding mix (not cook-n-serve)
- 4 cups cold whole milk
- 25 chocolate crème sandwich cookies, such as Oreos, or 8 (1.4-ounce) English toffee candy bars, such as Heath bars, or a combination
INSTRUCTIONS
- Place 1 container frozen whipped topping in the refrigerator to thaw, about 4 hours or up to overnight.
- Prepare 1 package chocolate cake or brownie mix according to the package directions in a parchment-lined 9×13-inch baking pan. If the package does not list instructions for baking in a 9×13-inch baking pan, prepare the batter as instructed, and bake at 350°F until a toothpick inserted 1-inch from the edge comes out with a few moist crumbs, 20 to 25 minutes for cake or 25 to 30 minutes for brownies.
- Place the pan on a wire rack and let the cake or brownies cool completely.
- Place 2 boxes chocolate instant pudding and 4 cups cold whole milk in a large bowl and whisk until smooth, about 2 minutes. Set aside at room temperature to thicken, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, coarsely chop 25 chocolate crème sandwich cookies or 8 English toffee candy bars until you have 3 cups.
- Cut the cooled cake or brownies into 1-inch pieces. Arrange half of the cubes in an even layer in a 2 1/2 to 4-quart trifle dish or glass bowl. Top with half the pudding, half the candy bars or cookies, and half the whipped topping. Repeat layering the remaining cake, pudding, and candy bars or cookies. Refrigerate the remaining whipped topping. Reserve the crumbs from the candy bars, cookies, cake, or brownies in a small dish.
- Cover the trifle with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to overnight.
- When ready to serve, spread the remaining whipped topping over the top of the trifle and garnish with the reserved crumbs.
Berry Trifle Recipe:
INGREDIENTS
- 2cups heavy cream
- ½cup white sugar
- 2cups milk
- 2(3.4 ounce packages) instant cheesecake pudding mix
- 2teaspoons lemon juice
- ½cup sour cream
- 2(10.75 ounce packages ) prepared pound cake
- 2(16 ounce carton ) strawberries, sliced
- strawberries for garnish
- blueberries for garnish
INSTRUCTIONS
- In a medium bowl, combine cream and white sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Set aside. You want a stiffer whipped cream for trifle so that it holds up over time.
- In another bowl beat cheesecake pudding mixes with milk for 2 minutes or until thick. Mix in sour cream and lemon juice. Fold in one cup of the sweetened whipped cream.
- Slice pound cake into one inch cubes.
- In a trifle bowl, start by layering ¼ of the pound cake on the bottom of the trifle bowl (A large glass bowl can be used if you don’t have a trifle bowl). Next, layer ¼ of the pudding mixture followed by a layer of ¼ of the strawberries. To make trifle look presentable make sure each layer is distinct and separate especially on the sides of the bowl. Repeat layers four times or until bowl is almost full.
- Garnish the top of the trifle with the remaining whipped cream, strawberries, and blueberries.
- Chill in refrigerator for at least 4 hours.
Apartment Living in New Hampshire
Making a Trifle desert is easy in your apartment. The ingredients are readily available in your local grocery store. Need a great apartment? Red Oak Apartment Homes has a large variety of styles, locations and prices for apartments.