Easy English Trifle {Christmas Trifle}

Easy English trifle recipe (Christmas trifle), homemade with simple ingredients. Composed of multiple layers of pound cake, vanilla pudding or custard, strawberry jam or preserves, fresh strawberries, whipped cream.

Bring this elegant dessert to your next holiday gathering for not only a visually appealing dessert, but also a ridiculously delicious one as well. The contrasting textures of juicy, smooth, creamy, spongy, and airy are delightful on the tongue. You may also like this Chocolate Trifle Recipe, which is a chocolate lovers dream come true.

Jump to:

• How To Make Classic English Trifle Recipe From Scratch?
• Key ingredients
• Variations for layered Christmas trifle
• Tips And Techniques For Strawberry Trifle Dessert
• Storage
• More Christmas Desserts
• Recipe

How To Make Classic English Trifle Recipe From Scratch?

1. Arrange first cake layer- In a deep glass dish.
2. Add pudding- Spread an even layer.
3. Add strawberries- On top.
4. Spread whipped cream- On top of fresh strawberries.
5. Add a layer of cake cubes- Spread an even layer.
6. Spread strawberry jam- On top of cake.
7. Arrange third layer of cake cubes- Spread an even layer..
8. Spread pudding- On top of cake.
9. Add whipped cream- Pipe a design on the very top.
10. Chill- And enjoy.

Key ingredients

• Cake: Pound cake is best because it is firm and won't get soggy quickly.
• Pudding: Custard can be used as well.
• Whipped cream: Homemade is best, but store-bought Cool Whip works just fine too.
• Fresh strawberries: They must be washed, patted dry, and diced.
• Strawberry jam: Homemade is delicious, but store-bought saves a lot of time.

Variations for layered Christmas trifle

• Berry/Fruit trifle- Add berries such as blackberries, raspberries, cranberry, or blueberries for more flavor and color.
• Cherry trifle- Add a layer of cherries. They can be fresh pitted cherries or maraschino cherries. You can even use cherry jam or cherry pie filling.
• Replace whipped cream with another frosting- Such as Brown Sugar Frosting {So Fluffy!}, or American Buttercream Frosting Recipe or Cooked Flour Buttercream (Ermine Frosting).
• Black forest flavor- This has all the flavors of my Black Forest Cake (With Cake Mix). Use chocolate cake, Cherry Pie Filling, and whipped cream.
• Lemon flavor– Use Lemon Pound Cake (With Cake Mix) and layer with Lemon Curd and whipped cream. Decorate with thin lemon slices (candy them for even more sweetness) and white chocolate shreds.
• Tiramisu flavor– Replace cake with coffee soaked ladyfingers and use mascarpone cheese filling, and whipped cream. Add a dusting of cocoa powder, espresso powder on top.
• Carrot cake flavor– Use this Moist Carrot Cake and pair it with Cream Cheese Frosting. Layer it with pistachio pudding.
• Cookie dough flavor– Use Vanilla Buttermilk Pound Cake and pair that with cookie dough balls. Any of these would be great: Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Bars, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles, Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Bars. Add whipped cream, Chocolate Pudding and lots of mini chocolate chips.
• Peanut butter flavor– Use vanilla cake, along with peanut butter frosting, peanut butter pudding, melted peanut butter, peanut butter chips and lots of Reese’s candies.
• Pumpkin flavor– Use this Easy Pumpkin Cake (With Cake Mix), along with pumpkin pudding, whipped cream, and chopped nuts.
• Try another jam flavor- Such as blackberry, raspberry, cherry, blueberry, apricot, or even orange marmalade.
• Add chocolate chips- As a layer or mixed in with the whipped cream.
• Add candy- Such as roughly chopped Kit Kats, Mars, Snickers, Twix, or any other candy you prefer.
• Add bananas- Add a layer of sliced ripe bananas.
• Use sweetened vanilla yogurt- In place of pudding for a slightly healthier and tangier version.
• Add a garnish- Top it with slivered toasted almonds, mint leaves, sprinkles, or chocolate shavings.
• Try another flavor of pudding- Like butterscotch, chocolate, white chocolate, or Homemade Banana Pudding.
• Add zest- Such as lemon or lime zest for a punch of citrus flavor.

Tips And Techniques For Strawberry Trifle Dessert

• Try to keep all the layers as even as possible- This will make for the best presentation!
• You can use all store-bought ingredients- If you are short on time, this will be very helpful.
• Why is my trifle soggy? How to fix it? This is often because the trifle was assembled too far ahead of time. Only make it 2-3 hours ahead of time to chill in the fridge. Any longer than that and you risk a soggy pound cake layer. Also, make sure to pat the strawberries dry before slicing and adding them. They already contain a lot of moisture to begin with.
• Everything must be chilled or at room temperature– Nothing should be hot or even warm because that will cause all the layers to melt together and become a mess.
• Use small cake cubes– Because they are easier to arrange in the bowl and also easier to eat.
• Use firm cake– Such as pound cakes (Cream Cheese Pound Cake or Sour Cream Pound Cake) because they are dense and able to withstand the weight of all the heavy layers.
• Pipe the whipped cream on top- Fill a piping bag with whipped cream and attach Tip 1M (large star tip) and pipe a design in a circular pattern on top of the pudding for a beautiful presentation. You can just use a spatula to make large swirl pattern too.

Storage

• Refrigerate- In a sealed container in the fridge for up to 2 days.
• Freeze- I do not recommend this because the cream and pudding may separate upon thawing and make a soggy mess.

More Christmas Desserts

• Madeleines {Mini French Butter Cakes}
• Gingerbread Cupcakes (With Cake Mix)
• Christmas Fruit Cake {With Cake Mix}
• Easy Cut Out Sugar Cookies {With Cake Mix}
• Christmas Pinwheel Cookies
• Easy Christmas Tree Cupcakes
• Easy Gingerbread Cookies {With Cake Mix}
• Easy Gingersnap Cookies

Recipe