This berry trifle is beautiful and would make a wonderful centerpiece for your dessert table. It tastes just as good as it looks. The base is a pre-made angel food cake that’s brushed with a tangy lemon simple syrup. In between layers of fresh blueberries and strawberries is a light and fluffy cream cheese whipped cream. Once assembled, this is a delightful summer treat. Since it’s red, white, and blue, you can enjoy this at your Memorial Day, 4th of July, or Labor Day cookout.
How to make Patriotic Berry Trifle
Ingredients
1 pre-made angel food cake, cut into 1-inch slices
Syrup
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 tsp almond extract
Whipped Cream Cheese
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 pound cream cheese, at room temperature
- 2 cups heavy cream, at room temperature
Fruit for Layering
- 2 pints blueberries
- 2 pints strawberries, hulled and sliced
Directions:
- Heat 1/4 cup sugar, lemon juice, and 1/4 cup water in a saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and stir in the almond extract.
- Brush both sides of each slice of cake with syrup.
- Cut the slices into 1-inch cubes.
- Beat 2/3 cup sugar and the cream cheese with a mixer on medium speed until smooth and light. Add the cream and beat on medium-high speed until smooth and the consistency of whipped cream.
- Arrange half of the cake cubes in the bottom of a 13-cup trifle dish. Sprinkle evenly with a layer of blueberries. Dollop half of the cream mixture over the blueberries and gently spread.
- Top with a layer of strawberries.
- Layer the remaining cake cubes on top of the strawberries. Then sprinkle with more blueberries.
- Top with the remaining whipped cream and finish with the remaining strawberries and blueberries, arranging them in a decorative pattern. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Hint: To get the star shape for the blueberries, we lightly pressed a star cookie cutter into the topping, placed the blueberries inside, and then removed the cookie cutter.
