Strawberries n' Cream Trifle

Everything in trifle form is better, especially when the cream layer is this tasty. Think cheesecake meets shortcake with a generous dose of strawberries and you'll understand how amazing this strawberries n' cream trifle is.

This is a great dessert when entertaining because it tastes BEST when its eaten about 2 days after making...overnight refrigeration is a minimum for great flavor. If you try to serve this right after assembling each of the layers will stand on their own, but if you let it set overnight then the cream softens the cake and the strawberries sweeten the whole trifle up...my  mouth is watering as I type this!

I've been making trifles ever since I first started baking and have been through many, MANY versions...at this point I try my best to keep the ingredients as natural as possible. Pudding mixes taste great and are easy to use, but they're not that healthy and are used to mimic the flavors of the real thing...so go ahead and use the real stuff to make your dessert wholesome and delicious without the extra use of preservatives, I promise, it doesn't take much more time and you'll feel better about what you're putting in your body!

Serves about 12

Ingredients
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-8 ounces softened cream cheese
-1 can sweetened condensed milk
-8 ounces cool whip (or make your own by whipping 1 cup heavy cream, 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla)
-24 ounces of pound cake (typically 1.5 loaves)
-2 pounds fresh strawberries, washed, stemmed and cut into slices (about 4 cups)

*OPTIONAL: sometimes I like to alternate a layer of butter cookies instead of the pound cake. In this case you will only need 16 ounce loaf of pound cake and 1/2 pound butter cookies. It really emphasizes the shortbread flavor in the trifle and the texture of the cookies after being refrigerated is soft yet dense and incredibly satisfying.

To make
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-Using an electric mixer, whip the cream cheese (to soften quickly microwave in a bowl for 15 seconds), then add sweetened condensed milk and blend until well mixed and there are no lumps of cream cheese. Add the cool whip (or whipped cream) and mix together.
-Slice the pound cake into 16-20 thin slices.
-Wash, remove the stems and slice the strawberries into slices (about 4 slices per strawberry).
-In a trifle bowl (or another deep bowl) place a layer of pound cake slices to cover the bottom. You may need to break some of the slices up to make them fit.
-Spread about 1-1 1/2 cups of the cream topping and then add a layer of strawberries.
-Repeat this process until you have used up all of your pound cake, ending with a layer of strawberries. I usually end up with 4 layers.
-If you have any extra cake (or butter cookies) crumble it on top of the top layer before adding the strawberries.
Cover and refrigerate 24 hours.
-Serve and enjoy!

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Looking for more trifle inspiration? Try my decadent and heavenly chocolate trifle heath bar cake...it ranks as one of my favorite indulgences!

Chocolate Trifle Heath Bar Cake