You are going to love this festive Easter trifle recipe, not only the taste but the beautiful display that comes along with it! Soft, fluffy layers of funfetti cake are layered with creamy vanilla pudding and enticing Cool Whip to make an easy and fun spring trifle. It is the season for pastel colors and light desserts, and that’s exactly what we have added to this vanilla trifle.
While there are many different versions of trifles, most consist of layers of cake, alternating with fruits, jams, puddings, or custards. There is usually always whipped cream involved, which makes a decadent layered dessert that everyone goes crazy for.
One of the most satisfying things is being able to see the layers through the trifle dish. But what if you don’t have one? You can use any bowl or dish that has tall sides on it. Heck, you can go as far as finding something around the house like a clear ice bucket or punch bowl and make it work.
Another fun idea is to make individual servings where you can use fancy stemware or mason jars. Just know this might take a little longer, but would be nice for fancier or formal occasions. You can check out my Bailey’s chocolate cheesecake trifles to see how pretty individual trifle servings are!
Easter desserts have been my latest obsession so I recently made Easter Bunny Butt cupcakes that turned out so cute, and the kids loved them. Each year I try to make something new for the holidays, last year it was a little more simplified. The Bunny Cupcakes were a hit and there was a little less decorating involved.
Don’t let me forget to mention, this time of year Reese’s is doing their thing with the infamous eggs that taste better than any other peanut butter cup on the market. For whatever reason, they are just so much fresher, BUT I did a thing and made homemade peanut butter eggs and bunnies, that I must say match up pretty well.
Easter Trifle Ingredients
- Cake Mix – Party Rainbow Chip for Funfetti
- Vanilla Instant Pudding
- Milk
- Blue and Pink food coloring
- Whipped Topping
- Edible candy grass
- Easter egg candies – I used Whoppers Robin Eggs
How To Make an Easter Trifle
Bake the cake. Line a baking pan with parchment paper. Prepare the cake mix according to the instructions on the package, pour the batter into the pan, and bake. Let it cool on a wire rack completely.
Cube. Once the cake has cooled, slice it into one inch cubes using a serrated knife.
Prepare the pudding mix. Make each batch of pudding in separate bowls and follow the instructions on the box.
Dye. Add a few drops of blue food coloring to one pudding bowl, then a couple of drops of pink to the other. Whisk and continue adding until it’s the color you want it. Only add a few drops at a time because he color can change quickly.
Add cake to trifle bowl. Place as many cake cubes that will fit in a single tight layer in the trifle dish.
Spoon in pudding. Scrape the blue pudding onto the cake layer, smoothing it with a spatula if needed.
Add Cool Whip. Spoon in two cups of Cool Whip (or whipped topping of choice) over the pudding.
Repeat layers. Repeat the layers, adding the cake cubes, followed by the pink pudding, then two more cups of whipped topping.
Chill. Refrigerate the trifle for at least 4 hours.
Make bird nests. Hold a ½ thick group of edible candy grass and twist it into a circle starting at one end. Make 2 nests of each color.
Serve. Top the trifle with the nests and add 3 candy eggs to each one.
Tips for Making and Storing
- Be sure the cake layers are tight to make sure the pudding doesn’t seep in between.
- Chilling the cake first makes cutting much easier.
- For brighter colors: Use white chocolate pudding instead of vanilla pudding so the food coloring is mixed with a white base instead of yellow.
- To make the nests stay together, roll them tightly. You can tuck the ends into the whipped topping to hold into place.
- You can bake the cake one day in advance to assemble the final product more quickly.
- Yellow and white puddings work the best for dying, but you can also use banana or lemon too.
- Store covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Substitutions and Variations
- For more decoration or something different, add Peeps bunnies on top.
- Instead of prepared frozen whipped topping, make your own by combining 1 cup of heavy cream, ⅓ cup powdered sugar, plus 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Beat till stiff peaks form.
- Add a layer or two of crushed Golden Oreos or other cookies.
- Use food coloring in the whipped topping for more colored layers.
- Add sprinkles or berries to the layers.
Easter Trifle
Ingredients
- 1 box Party Rainbow Chip cake mix prepared according to package directions (Funfetti cake mix can also be used)
- 2 3.4-ounce packages of vanilla instant pudding & pie filling mix
- 4 cups milk
- Blue & pink food coloring
- 1 16-ounce container whipped topping, thawed
- Green pink, and blue edible candy grass
- Easter egg candies for decorating I used Whoppers Robin Eggs
Instructions
- Bake the cake according to package directions, with parchment paper inside the pan for easy removal. After 10 minutes of the cake being out of the oven, remove it from the pan and place on a cooling rack. Allow the cake to cool completely. Using a serrated knife, cut the cake into one-inch pieces.
- Prepare the pudding according to package directions, keeping each package of pudding in a separate bowl. Add a few drops of blue food coloring to one bowl, then add a few drops of pink food coloring to the other bowl. Be sure to only add a little at a time until you get the desired color.
- Tightly place one layer of cake cubes in the bottom of a trifle dish or large glass bowl (fit as much cake as you can to not have gaps). Spoon one of the bowls of pudding over the top of the cake. Now spoon in 2 cups of the whipped topping over the pudding.
- Repeat with another layer of cake, the other color of pudding, then 2 more cups of the whipped topping.
- Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
- Make bird nests (2 of each color) from the edible candy grass. Do this by holding a half-inch thick group of grass and spin the grass tightly into a circle starting with one end.
- Before serving, decorate the top of the trifle with 6 bird nests and add 3 candy eggs into each nest.
- Store covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
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