Red, White & Blue Berry Trifle
Happy 4th of July!
Are you picnic-ing today? Firing up the grill? My husband and I are cooking out and having some people over; our menu includes hamburgers, beer and brown sugar kielbasa with sauerkraut, my favorite potato salad, Chinese coleslaw, fruit salad, corn pudding, and of course, some strawberry pretzel salad for dessert. If you’re headed to a party (or are having one at your house) and need something easy and last minute for dessert, this trifle is perfect. Plus, it feeds a crowd, is festive, and tastes fabulous.
This pretty berry trifle is made up of layers of angel food cake, a cream cheese/pudding/Cool Whip mixture, blueberries and strawberries. It’s wonderfully light and refreshing, and reminds me of everything sensational about summer. I love anytime I can create something that includes angel food cake, strawberries and Cool Whip. Suddenly, it’s 1988 and I’m in my grandma’s house again.
Whether you want a little slice of nostalgia, are in need of something quick to whip together for today, or want to add one more red, white and blue item to your menu, you’ll love this dessert. Have a safe and fun holiday!
One year ago: Salted Espresso Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Four years ago: Pistachio Gelato
Five years ago: Classic White Bread
Berry Trifle
Ingredients
- 1 angel food cake, cut into cubes
- 3.4 ounce (96.39 g) box instant vanilla pudding mix
- 2 cups (488 ml) cold milk
- 8 ounces (226.8 g) cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1 cup (120 g) powdered sugar
- 8 ounces (226.8 g) Cool Whip
- 2 pints (946.35 ml) blueberries, rinsed
- 2 pints (946.35 ml) strawberries, rinsed, hulled and sliced
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the vanilla pudding mix with the milk and whisk for two minutes; set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese on medium speed until smooth and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the powdered sugar. Once all of the sugar is incorporated, increase the speed to medium and beat for 1 minute, or until thoroughly combined and smooth.
- Add the prepared pudding to the cream cheese mixture and gently fold and stir with a rubber spatula until completely combined. Add the Cool Whip to the bowl and fold it into the mixture until no white streaks remain.
- To assemble the trifle, alternate layers of angel food cake, blueberries, the pudding mixture, strawberries and so on, until you get the top. Add a final layer of the pudding mixture, then arrange the remaining strawberries and blueberries in a decorative pattern. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. This is best served within 24 hours of making it, but leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
I love this recipe. I’ve made it for three 4th of July parties. Now I made it for Memorial day family get together. Everyone devoures it in no time.
Great easy recipe. Â I have always made trifles but never with cream cheese. Â What a delicious addition. Every time I make one my family loves it, this time they will be surprised at the cream cheese flavor.Â
Made this today for a church dinner. It was quite tasty and went fast. I received many compliments on how good it was and was asked to make it again. I made one change and used a pound cake in lieu of angle food cake.
VERY DELICIOUS! This recipe has now become one of our family staples. Every summer I get special requests to make this dessert and it’s completely finished the same day! Everyone LOVES it!
Been a family favorite for years!
Delicious! It’s a must have every year.
This sounds delicious! Do you think white cake would do well as an angel food cake substitute? Just working with what I have in my pantry! Thanks!Â
Favorite for family and church socials!!!
Su yum and and so good looking
I make this every 4th of July, except with pound cake. This year I made individual trifles in 1/2 pint Mason jars and everyone loved them.
So I am trying to reduce the sugar for my diabetic hubby. Can I eliminate the added sugar to the cool whip? Is it for sweetness or for making the coolwhip stiffer? I am using the sugar free cool whip so seems counter productive to then add sugar. LOL Can’t wait to try it.
Hey Cathy! The powdered sugar is to help stabilize and “cream” the cream cheese before adding it to the prepared pudding and Cool Whip. SF Cool Whip does not always hold as firmly as regular Cool Whip, so you may need to use something. I suggest subbing half of the powdered sugar for powdered SWERVE sugar sub. Too much artificial sweeteners will leave a bitter aftertaste. I think a little real sugar will help to counteract that, while still keeping the sugars manageable.
My new go-to 4th of July dessert. Delicious!
Hi Michelle – This was so easy to make! But I had to make it in individual bowls so I had leftover pudding mix so it will be dip for fruit this week – yummy!!! Thank you!!! Sheila
I made this beautiful dessert it was a hit from the first spoonful per my guest.  It was so delicious I barely had a small bowl left. I’m going to make it again for the upcoming holidays.Â
I am going to try this with lemon pound cake….
I’ve made this several times. Everyone loves it! I add lemon curd to the pudding/cool whip/cream cheese mixture, just because Leon goes so good with all the other ingredients.
This is a great dessert, and probably one of my favorites! I made it for a church 4th of July dinner and received many glowing comments about it before it was quickly all gone. It was very light and slightly sweet, really perfect. I used an angel food cake mix, because the store didn’t have any pre-made angel food cakes. It probably tasted better using the cake mix anyway, and I had about 1/3 of the cake left over. I used low-fat / fat- free cream cheese and cool whip, and sugar-free instant pudding. Some of the other recipes that I saw for this dessert use white chocolate pudding instead of vanilla; I think this is so the custard will be more white than yellowish, if you are going for a patriotic look. If you want the desert to have the best presentation, you can put the white pieces of cake (without the brownish crust around the perimeter of the bowl, and the others in the center. Slicing the strawberries took the most time. Next time, I’ll buy a strawberry slicer. To save time, you can use a knife to slice the cake, then use scissors to cut the slices into cubes.
This is a review of the Berry Trifle–a big hit at our recent Memorial Day BBQ. I made the recipe as written, only 1.5 times the size of everything as we had a big crowd. (5.1 ounce package of pudding, 3 cups milk, 12 oz. cream cheese, 1.5 cup powdered sugar, 12 oz. Cool Whip, 3 pints each blueberries, strawberries., one angel food “tube” cake). It was delicious! I assembled the ingredients in a fluted glass bowl (don’t own a large trifle bowl) and used the rest layered in individual clear plastic cups. The bowl and cups I topped with berries in the shape of a star, sliced strawberries around a blueberry middle.
I made this for a 4th of July party this year and it was a huge hit! The presentation was amazing, the flavor fantastic! My husband is pleading with me to make another one for us:)
Why no jelly?
So adorably classic ! So patriotic ! So soulful !
Your recipes and pictures always make my soul dance :)
This was an awesome post! So many favorite ways to use a fruit! Thank you for so many amazing dishes all in one fantastic post!! Hope you are enjoying all of these great dishes! I know I will be!!!
omg this looks soo yummy! Trifles are my guilty pleasure!
Beautiful and so perfect for the 4th. Hope you had a great one!
this is the perfect 4th of July dessert. Looks so delicious!
This trifle looks incredible!! Happy 4th!!
Can this get any more beautiful? Really pretty trifle!
What a gorgeous trifle! I may just have to make this all year long!
So beautiful and perfect for 4th!! Have fun :)
That trifle looks like it would be great for any occasion!
Yum! This looks delish :)
Looks beautiful! Perfect recipe!!
What a perfect trifle for today, beautiful!
This is just lovely!! Happy 4th :)
Beautiful trifle, Michelle! OK, this is really weird. Or, maybe just totally normal being here in the USA on the 4th of July…we have 3 things the same or similar on our menu today! We are grilling, but doing ribs and some wicked Baked Beans with a dark beer reduction. Making a new twist on that beloved (circa 1988) Strawberry Pretzel Salad, Mini Red White and Blue Mini Trifles in Mason jars with Lemon Cream Cheese Filling (from the Tutti Frutti Lemon Cheesecake Bites I recently posted) and Whipped Cream. And, corn pudding! It is simply irresistible with the ribs. Thanks for sharing and Happy 4th of July! xo
How adorable for the 4th!
This looks deliciously yummy. It contains fruit so it must be healthy too :) Happy Independence Day!
Bright colors, wonderful creation. Wish you happy holidays You All!
Happy 4th of July! This looks delicious! As an Australian living in London with predominantly American friends, I’m having so much fun getting into the festivities of this holiday. I really enjoy how patriotic everyone is for 4th of July, it’s great watching the creativity with food just bubble over.
This looks delicious and well really the type of dessert that you hope company cancels and you have to enjoy it all yourself! Just kidding :) sounds so good in theory.
I think that’s one of the prettiest desserts I’ve seen in a long while! And this part about the Cool Whip and angel food cake made me laugh, because it’s true: “Suddenly, it’s 1988 and I’m in my grandma’s house again.” :)
There is nothing better than a gorgeous trifle with fresh summer berries. Gorgeous!
Hope you have a nice holiday too! you have a creative menu and it’s great to have people over who share the joy! . And the berry trifle looks so good I’m starting to drool over it , OK no maybe’s this time , I WILL make it !! thanks for posting it :)
Between this and your flag cake, you are so in the spirit of it all! Wish I had my act together this much & had planned like you did :)
So gorgeous!! Happy 4th!
I love classic combinations like this! There are times when a bacon, caramel corn ice cream is what you want, and then there are times when only classic berries, cake and cream will do. The 4th of July is one of those times.
I can’t find a 3.4 oz instant pudding. I found a 1.34 oz. Is there a mistake in the ingredients cause I would think 3 boxes would be too much.
Hi Mary Ray, The 3.4-ounce box is the standard size of pudding boxes. I’ve never seen a 1.34-ounce box – that would be extremely small. This is the product I use:
http://www.jello.com/product/pudding-desserts/vanilla
There are two sizes of pudding mix at all the stores I go to and this is the bigger box. It’s a pretty standard size.Â