This Blueberries and Cream Cake Trifle is a layered dessert with creamy angel food cake cubes, blueberry fruit filling, and whipped cream. It’s easy to assemble, creamy, and sweet– and is the perfect make-ahead dessert (great for the holidays!).
Blueberries and Cream Cake Trifle
Growing up, one of the most frequent desserts my grandparents made was a sort of angel food cake trifle: angel food cake, sugared strawberries, and lots of whipped cream. Today I have a spin on that recipe using angel food cake and whipped cream with the best blueberry fruit filling!
This trifle is perfect to make for the holidays — it’s a fun change from the typical apple pie or pecan pie. It’s also ideal since it’s best made ahead of time and doesn’t require any precious oven space. Although perhaps a nontraditional holiday dessert, it’s a fun way to get creative this holiday season and explore new twists on old favorites or introduce new dishes to your guests!
Blueberries and Cream Cake Trifle Layers
There are three layers to this trifle, which we’ll break down below:
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Sweet and creamy angel food cake cubes
. The first layer contains four ingredients: angel food cake cubes, sugar, cream cheese, and evaporated milk.
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- To keep things easy (while still tasty!), pick up a pre-made angel food cake from the bakery section of your grocery store. (If you aren’t able to find one, you can use a boxed mix and prepare the angel food cake before proceeding with this recipe.) Another alternative is to make your own. Whatever way you proceed, we’re looking for a fresh cake and about 6½ to 7 cups of cake cubes — any more than that and the trifle will seem dry.
- Be sure to use brick-style, full-fat cream cheese for the best results in flavor and consistency.
- To balance the tang and savoriness of the cream cheese, we add in some white granulated sugar.
- And finally, we mix in some evaporated milk. In some countries, it’s called unsweetened condensed milk. Essentially, it is a canned cow’s milk product that is shelf-stable. 60% of the water has been removed from the fresh milk,(which is where the term ‘evaporated’ comes into play), making it a more flavorful and creamy product to use in trifle. (By the way, sweetened condensed milk contains added sugar and wouldn’t work in this recipe — it would make it too sweet!)
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Blueberry fruit filling.
In this recipe, we use blueberry fruit filling (sometimes labeled as pie filling). The fruit filling is ready to use, so it saves you time without sacrificing quality or taste. And if blueberries aren’t your thing, swap out for a different variety of filling.
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Whipped cream
. Last, but certainly not least, we have some sweetened whipped topping which only requires two ingredients, plus an optional flavor enhancer if you’d like.
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- Heavy whipping cream is the base. The best-tasting heavy cream doesn’t have additives; if possible, find a brand that lists only one ingredient: cream.
- We lightly sweeten the cream with powdered sugar. Feel free to play around with the amount you add — more for a sweeter cream and add less for less sweetness.
- Vanilla extract and a tiny pinch of salt enhance the flavor of the cream — optional, but nice if you have ’em!
Blueberry Angel Food Cake Tips
- Embrace the mess! This trifle is anything but perfect and don’t worry, because it’s ridiculously tasty! The layers are intended to be a bit haphazard– as it chills, everything melds together nicely and you’ll get plenty of each element come serving time.
- Smooth the layers on gently and slowly to avoid picking up the other layers as you spread on the new ones.
- Use a trifle dish or 9×13-inch pan. We tested this recipe in both a glass trifle dish and a 9×13-inch pan. They both worked, but we did find serving to be easier out of a 9×13-inch pan.
- Plan ahead. This Blueberries and Cream Cake Trifle needs at least two hours to chill and firm up.
Quick Tip
Make sure to use softened cream cheese in this recipe. Cold cream cheese, straight from the fridge, will be difficult to mix with the sugar. It will create a lumpy, unpleasant texture. To soften, bring the cream cheese to room temperature by removing it from the refrigerator 30 minutes to an hour before using. Alternatively, if you’re short on time, remove the cream cheese from its wrapper and cut it into small chunks–they’ll soften faster. For even speedier softening, microwave the cream cheese on low just until slightly softened. Don’t let it get too soft!
More Dessert Recipes
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- Cherry Danish with cherry fruit filling
- Peaches and Cream Cake with cream cheese frosting
- Apple Streusel Pie with a graham cracker crust
- Cinnamon Roll Apple Pie with a cinnamon roll pie crust
- Strawberry Pretzel Salad an oldie but a goodie!
Blueberries and Cream Cake Trifle
Equipment
- Mixer
- Large bowl
- Trifle Dish
Ingredients
- 1 (10-ounce) packaged angel food cake cubed, see note 1
- 2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese full-fat, brick-style
- 3/4 cup evaporated milk
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 (21-ounce) can blueberry pie filling
- 1-1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract optional
Instructions
- Using a mixer, whip together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth and creamy, about 2–3 minutes. Add in the evaporated milk and mix until smooth.
- Remove cake from the packaging. Slice into 1-inch-thick slices. Cut each slice into small 1-inch cubes and then add cubes into the cream cheese mixture. Gently fold the cake cubes into the cream mixture until well coated.
- Combine heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract in a large bowl. Use a mixer with a whisk attachment to mix on low speed until sugar is incorporated and then increase the speed to medium-high and beat, watching closely, until soft peaks form.
- Spread 1/2 of the cake mixture along the bottom of a trifle dish or 9 x 13-inch pan. Top with 1/2 of the blueberry pie filling. Smooth 1/2 of the whipped cream on top. Don't worry about it looking perfect or pretty, it will be a bit messy!
- Repeat the layers with the remaining cake mixture, remaining blueberry fruit filling, and remaining whipped cream. Cover tightly and chill for at least 2–24 hours.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve. To get clean slices, run a knife under hot water for a few seconds, wipe it dry, make 1 slice, and repeat. Use a metal spatula to remove squares and serve.
Video
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I just Love your recipes.
Thank you!!
Looking forward to trying this recipe
Hope you enjoy! 🙂