Quick And Easy Strawberry Shortcake Trifle
With the fourth of July right around the corner, I wanted to share one of my favorite quick and easy summer recipes for strawberry shortcake trifle. You can make it entirely from scratch, or “cheat” the recipe with pre-made ingredients available at any grocery store.
This strawberry shortcake trifle combines my mom’s traditional strawberry shortcake recipe with a classic trifle. The result? A quick and easy summer dessert that will have you coming back for more!
It’s easy to make, can be prepared with store-bought ingredients, and stored in the fridge days in advance! (Just wait until serving to add the whipped cream on topping!)
What You Need For Strawberry Shortcake Trifle:
If you don’t have time to make everything from scratch, you can purchase all the ingredients at your local grocery store and throw them together quickly. Or mix and match store-bought and homemade ingredients to create your own version! (I always make homemade whipped cream even I buy the rest of the ingredients from the store)
Ingredients:
- Store-bought angel food cake (or cake recipe below)
- (2) 4.6oz boxes of vanilla cook and serve pudding and pie filling, or large pre-made vanilla pudding (or prepare custard below)
- (Optional) Store-bought strawberry cheesecake sauce (or strawberry sauce below)
- 8 oz cool whip (or homemade whipped cream recipe below)
- 1 pint fresh strawberries
- Glass container(s) or vase
Assembly:
Cut the cake with a serrated knife so it fits inside the glass trifle container. (For individual portion trifles, cut using cookie cutters or into 1/2″ cubes.)
Note: frozen angel food cake is easier to cut
Assemble trifle(s) starting with a layer of cake. Arrange sliced strawberries to cover the cake layer. Cover strawberry layer with one-third of the strawberry sauce. Add a smooth, even layer of custard or pudding on top.
Repeat layers until trifle container is full. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.
When ready to serve, top trifle with whipped cream and decorate with remaining strawberries. Enjoy!
If you want to make your strawberry shortcake trifle from scratch, see recipe below.
Quick and Easy Strawberry Shortcake Trifle
Ingredients
Cake
- 1 store bought angel food cake or prepare cake below:
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter at room temp. (6oz)
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 extra-large eggs at room temp.
- 3/4 cup sour cream at room temp.
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp cream of tartar
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
Vanilla Custard
- 4.6 oz box of vanilla cook and serve pudding & pie filling, or prepare custard below:
- 3 cups whole milk
- 8 large egg yolks
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 pod vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped
Strawberry Sauce
- 8 oz Store bought strawberry sauce, or prepare strawberry sauce below:
- 1 lb strawberries, pureed
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
Whipped Cream Topping
- 8 oz cool whip, or prepare whipped cream below:
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream (1/2 pint) chilled
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 pint fresh strawberries
Instructions
Vanilla Country Cake
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour two 8-inch cake tins.
- Cream the butter and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on high speed until light and fluffy.
- On medium speed, add the eggs one at a time. Add the sour cream, zest, vanilla, and cream of tartar. Mix well, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Sift together the flour, cornstarch, salt, and baking soda. On low speed, gradually add the flour mixture into the butter mixture and combine until just smooth.
- Pour batter evenly into the 8-inch baking tins, smooth tops with a spatula, then bake on the center rack of the oven at 350 F for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Allow cakes cool in tins for 30 minutes, them remove and cool to room temperature on a wire rack.
Vanilla Custard
- Heat milk and vanilla bean/seeds in a heavy saucepan over medium heat until hot but not boiling.
- While the milk heats, whisk together egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a bowl until smooth and pale.
- Pour 1 cup of the hot milk and vanilla mixture in a stream into the egg yolk mixture while whisking, add remaining milk and continue to wisk constantly.
- Transfer mixture to a saucepan and cook over medium low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until thickened enough to coat the back of the spoon and mixture reaches 170 F (about 6-10 min). Do not boil custart – it will split. If it looks like custard is about to curdle, lift saucepan off the heat and whisk firmly.
- Immediately pour custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean bowl and stir in vanilla extract. Chill custard, covering the surface with wax or parchment paper, until cold and thickened (at least 3 hours).
- Note: Custard can be cooled quickly by placing bowl in a large ice bath and stirring occasionally.
- Custard can be stored covered with plastic wrap for up to 2 days in the fridge.
Strawberry Sauce
- Combine strawberry puree, sugar and vanilla extract in medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat covered until mixture begins to boil, stirring occasionally.
- Allow strawberry sauce to boil for one minute, then remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Whipped Cream
- Whip cream by hand or with an electric mixer until firm soft peaks apear. Add sugar and vanilla extract. Continue whipping until stiff peaks apear.
Assembly
- Once cakes have cooled, cut them to size with a serrated knife so they fit snugly inside trifle container. (for individual portion trifles cut cake with cookie cutters the size of the container or into 1/2" cubes.)
- Assemble trifle(s) starting with a layer of cake. Then arrange sliced strawberries over cake layer. Cover strawberries and cake with one third to half of the strawberry sauce, then cover with a smooth even a layer of custard or pudding (1/3-1/2 of pudding). Repeat layers until trifle container is full. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.
- When ready to serve, top trifle with whipped cream and decorate with remaining strawberries.
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If you have any questions, or a helpful tip or two of your own that you would like to share about strawberry shortcake trifle, leave a comment below or send me an email! (Yep! I’m a real attainable person who cares about your recipe’s success as much as my own!)
Cheers!
Mel
