The trifle is a dessert that scores high in flavor and elegant appearance. This layered dessert amazes many holiday guests with its layers full of richness, sweetness, and texture.
A stunning holiday trifle with several distinct layers, flavors, and textures takes time to make. Every element is well-thought-out and carefully assembled in the trifle dish. But if executed correctly, this dessert is a knockout.
I’ve compiled easy but elegant Christmas trifle recipes to ease the challenge of making them. Choose your fave trifle recipe, then take it from the website onto the holiday table with your fantastic kitchen skills.
1. Angel Food Cake Berry Trifle
Trifle recipes often include layers of fruit and cake. Angel food cake is a holiday classic with an incredibly light and fluffy profile that fits well with the rich sweetness of berries.
To make this absolutely delicious trifle, you’ll need angel food cake, vanilla pudding mix, cold milk, cream cheese, powdered sugar, Cool Whip, blueberries, and strawberries. The ingredients comprise three distinct layers: cake, fresh fruit, and pudding.
You could use more berries like blackberries or raspberries. If you don’t have angel food cake, substitute it with pound cake. However, you might not get that amazingly light cake layer.
2. Magnolia Bakery Banana Pudding
Despite the name, banana pudding appears more like a trifle, especially when you go for the Magnolia Bakery recipe. It consists of delicious layers of vanilla pudding, wafers, and sliced bananas.
The recipe calls for Nilla wafers, sliced bananas, heavy whipping cream, instant vanilla pudding, cold water, and condensed milk. The three layers are wafers, sliced bananas, and whipped cream and pudding mixture.
Assemble all the layers in a classic trifle dish. You can also make mini trifles by using small containers or cups. Repeat the layering pattern until you reach the top of whatever dish you choose.
3. Black Forest Chocolate Trifle
Black forest cakes have bold and rich flavors from the chocolate and cherries. This trifle recipe takes all that and more. It makes a dessert consisting of a double chocolate layer (pudding and cake) punctuated by sweet cherries.
You and your holiday guests will not forget every bite of this black forest trifle. As luxurious and complex as it all sounds, it’s pretty easy to make.
You only need a chocolate cake, cherry pie filling, kirsch, chocolate pudding, and whipped topping. If there’s no kirsch, you can use cherry brandy or amaretto. For garnishes, use cherries, sprinkles, and shaved chocolate.
4. Caramel Chocolate Trifle
This caramel chocolate trifle is a delight for your sweet tooth. Each layer exudes decadent flavors and intriguing textures. Indeed, a fun dessert to have on Christmas eve.
You’ll need devil’s food cake mix, instant chocolate pudding, frozen whipped topping, caramel ice cream topping, and English toffee bits. You can also substitute the toffee bits for almond brickle chips.
The layers begin with the cubed cake. Then, stack whipped topping, pudding, caramel sauce, and toffee bits in succeeding order. Repeat until you see all the layers fill the dish. Cover with cling wrap or so and refrigerate until serving time.
5. Brownie Trifle
We’re doing away with the usual cake layer and have brownies instead! You’ll still get rich flavors, but it’s with the fudgy texture we love about brownies.
Besides the brownies, there are two other elements: whipped cream and chocolate pudding. This recipe makes a large trifle, perfect for a holiday party. Kids and adults alike will enjoy every bowl of this dessert.
You’ll need the Nestle TOLL HOUSE mix, eggs, oil, and water to make the brownies. The whipped cream consists of heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla. Other ingredients are instant chocolate fudge pudding, cold milk, and chocolate shavings.
6. Classic Sherry Trifle
Grace the festive season with a classic sherry trifle decked with edible holly berries and leaves. This trifle is a traditional dessert every Christmas season.
In making this trifle, you can save time on the holiday preparations as you must make this in advance. You can’t serve it too early, or it will be soupy. Thus, preparing the day before is best, leaving you with more time to work on other dishes on the event day.
You’ll make these elements from scratch: ladyfingers and custard. Besides those, you’ll need raspberry preserves, sherry wine, heavy cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla.
7. Winter Berry Trifle
This winter berry trifle – with its ginger cake, white chocolate custard, and sweet and spice flavors – will surely be a hit on any Christmas eve table. Its flavors are on point for the season.
There are four layers: cake, berries, custard, and cream. The first layer is a sweet and sticky ginger cake, which absorbs the next layer, a berry compote. For the compote, you can use berries spiced with cinnamon, ginger, and star anise.
The third layer is a white chocolate custard to compliment the tartness of the berries. Finally, you’ll need a whipped cream topping for the last layer.
8. Eggnog Gingerbread Trifle
Eggnog and gingerbread are classic Christmas treats. Together with whipped cream, pudding, and berries, they make a delicious and Christmas-perfect trifle.
There are four main components: spicy gingerbread, creamy eggnog filling, sweet vanilla pudding, and fresh whipped cream. They come together to comprise a creamy, sweet, and spiced flavor profile that brings back many Christmas memories.
For the best flavors, you’ll make the eggnog filling and gingerbread from scratch. They take time and effort, but worth it. Top all the layers with the final whipped cream layer with fresh raspberries and crumbled Biscoff cookies or gingersnap for the complete experience.
9. Candy Cane Red Velvet Trifle
It’s always a happy surprise to receive candy canes. We love sucking on them for hours (or minutes), licking every bit of sweetness from the red and white stripes. Now, imagine that as a trifle.
This candy cane red velvet trifle features alternating red and white layers, just like a candy cane. There are actual candy canes incorporated into it to instill authentic candy flavor. It’s creamy and sweet, perfect for the holiday.
You’ll need a red velvet cake mix, mini candy canes, candy cane Hershey kisses, instant cheesecake jello pudding, vanilla, cool whip, milk, and cream cheese.
10. Easy Cookie Dough Trifle
Every day is always a good time for cookies. But there are many ways to enjoy these treats besides eating them as they are. This trifle is a creative way to get those cookie flavors and more.
Besides the chocolate chip cookie dough, you have layers of chocolate pudding and whipped cream. It’s like a giant cookie sandwich but in a trifle dish. You can return for as many servings as possible, making Christmas a cookie heaven.
The ingredients include whole milk, chocolate pudding mix, heavy whipping cream, nestle toll house edible cookie dough, and chewy Chips Ahoy cookies.
10 Elegant Christmas Trifle Recipes
Make a showstopper dessert with these Christmas trifle recipes.
Ingredients
Angel Food Cake Berry Trifle
Magnolia Bakery Banana Pudding
Black Forest Chocolate Trifle
Caramel Chocolate Trifle
Brownie Trifle
Classic Sherry Trifle
Winter Berry Trifle
Eggnog Gingerbread Trifle
Candy Cane Red Velvet Trifle
Easy Cookie Dough Trifle
Directions
- Select your favorite recipe.
- Organize all the required ingredients.
- Prep a Christmas trifle in 30 minutes or less!