Strawberry Cheesecake Trifle layers textures of cake, soft creamy cheesecake and pudding mix interspersed with sweet juicy red strawberries! Just thinking about it will make your mouth water!
1strawberry cakeuse a cake mix and bake in a 9x13 baking dish for ease, cooled completely
8oz.cream cheesesoftened
1tablespoonvanilla extract
3.4oz.package of instant cheesecake pudding mixunprepared (standard box)
3.5cupsheavy whipping creamdivided
¾cuppowdered sugardivided
2poundsfresh strawberriesstems removed and sliced
Instructions
Remove cooled cake from baking dish and slice into ¾”-1” cubes. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, use a hand mixer to beat together the cream cheese and vanilla extract until smooth.
Beat in the pudding mix until fully combined - the mixture will be thick and lumpy.
Slowly drizzle in 1 ½ cups of the heavy cream, beating on low constantly and fully incorporating each drizzle of cream (about ⅛ cup at a time) before adding the next drizzle.
When the cream cheese/pudding mixture is smooth and creamy, add in ½ cup of powdered sugar and beat until combined.
Add fresh strawberries to the mixture, reserving about 1 cup of the strawberries for the top of the trifle.
Build the trifle by layering ⅓ of the cake cubes, then about ½ of the strawberries and cream mixture, another layer of cake pieces, the remaining strawberry mixture, and then the final cake pieces.
In the bowl of a standing mixer (or you can use a hand mixer), use the whisk attachment to beat the remaining two cups of heavy cream until soft peaks begin to form. Add remaining ¼ cup of powdered sugar and continue beating until the whipped cream forms stiff peaks.
Mound or pipe big dollops of the whipped cream around the top of the trifle. Pile the reserved strawberry slices in the center. Pipe one more dollop of whipped cream in the center and top with a halved strawberry with stem still attached (or decorate as desired).
Notes
Once assembled, let the trifle “set” in the fridge for about 4 hours to allow flavors to penetrate each layer. Then serve well chilled.
Bake a strawberry sheet cake using a box cake mix. Bake in 9x13 dish according to package instructions. Let cool completely before slicing into cubes.
Cheesecake pudding mix can be successfully substituted with vanilla or white chocolate instant pudding mix.
Drizzle the cream into the pudding cream cheese mix gradualy to prevent lumps from forming. Room temperature cream will also incorporate more smoothly than cold cream.
When it comes to layering the cream filling and the strawberries, you can either spread a layer of pudding mixture followed by a layer of strawberries or mix the filling and the strawberries together and use it as a single layer as we did here.
If you are watching your calorie intake you can substitute the whipped cream for light Cool Whip and you can also use a sugar-free pudding mix. Substitute milk for the heavy cream in the pudding cream cheese mixture (though note that the filling will be a little thinner.)