Easter Trifle Dessert
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Easter Dessert Trifle - An easy and colorful spring trifle dessert made with white cake and a sweet creamy filling!
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Easter is just a few days away and I'm looking forward to celebrating the weekend with family. Most years I'm asked to bring dessert to the family Easter meals. I say, "meals" because we celebrate with my in-laws on Saturday and my family on Sunday. We're so blessed to be able to spend time with our entire family, and we always look forward to weekends like this.
Today, I'm sharing a fun and colorful Easter Trifle Dessert with layers of white cake and sweet, creamy filling. This trifle dessert is guaranteed to get lots of oohs and ahhs, and it's something the entire family is sure to love!
Making the Easter Trifle Dessert
Start by dividing the cake mix batter into separate bowls and creating the four colors.
Each bowl of batter should get transferred to an 8" round cake pan to be baked.
After the cakes are baked and cooled, you can start whipping together the cream.
The cream used between the layers of cake is more substantial than just whipped topping alone. The addition of cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk provide a more creamy texture and even more flavor.
After you crumble up the individual cakes, you can start the layering process. It's up to you how you would like to layer the colors.
I started with purple on the bottom, then added yellow, then pink and ended with blue at the top.
Once I added the final layer of cream to the top of the trifle, I used the cake crumbles I had reserved to sprinkle over the top of the trifle.
Now, how pretty is that? I love the bright colors. Perfect for spring or an Easter celebration.
Your friends and family will want to dig right in.
Happy Easter, friends!
Easter Trifle Dessert
Ingredients
- 2 white box cake mixes (prepared according to box directions)
- Red (blue, green, and yellow food coloring)
- 8 ounces whipped cream cheese
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
- 12 ounce tub Cool Whip
Instructions
For the Cakes
- Prepare the cake mixes according to the box directions.
- Split batter evenly into 4 bowls.
- In the first bowl (to create the purple layer) add 6 red drops and 5 blue drops.
- In the second bowl (to create the yellow layer) add 5 yellow drops.
- In the third bowl (to create the pink layer) add 6 drops of red food coloring and 1 drop of blue.
- In the fourth bowl (to create the blue layer) add 4 blue drops and 2 green drops.
- Bake each layer in an 8" round cake pan for 23-25 minutes.
- Allow cakes to cool. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, mix whipped cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk and Cool Whip until well combined.
- Crumble each cake, setting aside a ¼ cup of each color for topping.
- To assemble trifle, alternate each color of cake with a layer of cream. It's up to you how you would like to layer the colors, but I chose, purple, yellow, pink and blue at the top.
- To finish, sprinkle remaining cake crumbs on top.
Notes
- Color Consistency: Achieving vibrant and consistent colors for each layer is key to making your Easter trifle visually appealing. To ensure uniformity, use a precise measurement for food coloring drops. Consider using gel food coloring for more intense colors, and adjust the quantity according to your preference.
- Cake Crumbling Technique: When crumbling the cakes for layering in the trifle, ensure that the pieces are uniform in size to maintain a balanced texture throughout the dessert. You can use a fork or your hands to crumble the cakes, making sure to reserve a portion of each color for the final decorative topping.
- Chill for Flavor Infusion: For the best flavor and texture, refrigerate the assembled trifle for at least a few hours before serving. This allows time for the flavors to meld together and for the cream mixture to infuse into the cake layers, resulting in a deliciously moist and flavorful dessert experience.
I was SO looking forward to this recipe but unfortunately the food color of Watkins brand that I bought did NOT make the colors as dark as what is shown here even with me adding more drops than recipe called for! I should have known when getting a little on my finger and it washed off easily that it was not a good brand! Even though pale to start with every layer came out white in baking! I managed to get a color scheme going with the cream cheese etc and using a different brand of food color but very disappointing. DONT USE WATKINS food coloring!
Hi Cindy,
Thank you so much for sharing this feedback! I’m honestly not very familiar with Watkins food coloring, so I really appreciate you mentioning that experience for other readers. It definitely sounds like the food coloring was the issue here rather than the recipe itself, and I’m so sorry the colors didn’t turn out as vibrant as you were hoping.
Gel food coloring usually gives much deeper, brighter shades, so that would be my top recommendation for the bold layered look in the photos.
I really hope the dessert itself still tasted delicious! If the flavor and recipe turned out well for you in the end, I’d be so grateful if you’d consider updating the star rating to reflect the recipe result rather than the food coloring brand issue, since that can really help other readers.
Thanks again for taking the time to leave a comment!
I enjoyed creating this beautiful Easter cake, I put vanilla pudding to make it my own creation.
How far in advance can I make this cake without it becoming soggy? I am hoping to prep on Friday, for a Sunday dinner. Is this doable?
I wouldn't prepare it until Saturday if possible.
Use egg whites in your cake and water instead of oil…colors will be off! Tasty otherwise!
Can I make this a day beforehand or will it get soggy? Should I keep it refrigerated until we eat it? Will this be enough for 25 people or should I make a second? Thanks!
You can definitely make it a day beforehand. It will be fine. And yes, keep it refrigerated until eating. The trifle should serve about 15-20 people depending on serving sizes. You may want to make an additional back-up dessert. Another trifle would definitely give you some leftovers.
Hey Sara, can I use real whipped cream instead of cool whip?
Real whipped cream will not stabilize as well as Cool Whip. For this recipe, I would stick to using Cool Whip if at all possible!
Hi making the four cakes now in the evening .Do i need to refrigerate cakes BEFORE i assemble
should i assemble hours ahead and refrigerate or wait til the morning of Easter
Will need the assembled dessert to chill and set if so how many hours before serving
Hi Patrish! I hope everything worked out for you. You don't need to refrigerate the cakes before assembling. Once assembled, you should refrigerate the dessert, but you don't have to allow it to chill before serving if you're ready to enjoy right away!
What size trifle bowl did you use?
I usually use a 104 oz. bowl. Mine is from Anchor Hocking.
Hi Sara, what temp do we bake each 8” round at?
Prepare the cakes using the instructions on the back of the cake mix box.
Made this and itt looks fabulous! I piped the icing on top!
I bet it looked gorgeous, Donna!