Strawberry Shortcake Trifle

Looking for an easy strawberry shortcake recipe? Look no further than this strawberry shortcake trifle! Layers of angel food cake (store-bought is fine, or you can use my recipe), homemade strawberry sauce, and Greek yogurt whipped cream make for a simple summer dessert that tastes incredible. 

While I love a classic strawberry shortcake with lightly sweetened biscuits, this strawberry angel food cake trifle is just as delicious and even a little bit easier! If you can’t get enough of strawberries, make sure you also try my Strawberry Butter, Rhubarb Strawberry Galette, and Virgin Strawberry Daiquiri.

Why This Recipe Works

• Easy strawberry shortcake trifle. The strawberry sauce and Greek yogurt whipped cream take just minutes to make, then all you have to do is layer them with cubes of angel food cake for a fluffy strawberry shortcake recipe that will have everyone coming back for seconds. 
• Perfect summer dessert. Next to watermelon, strawberries are THE fruit of the summer, and we should be eating them in as many ways as possible, starting with this delicious trifle. This fancy strawberry shortcake trifle is pretty enough for a party, but easy enough for a weeknight when you just want something tasty.

Ingredients

• Angel food cake: There’s some debate about what cake you should use for strawberry trifle. Personally, I love a fluffy, lightly sweet angel food cake. It can be intimidating to make, but I walk you through it in this recipe. Or, you can keep it simple and just buy angel food cake from the store. You can also swap it out for pound cake or another vanilla cake if that’s your preference. 
• Strawberries: The most critical ingredient in any recipe for strawberry shortcake trifle recipe. We’re using 4 cups of quartered strawberries, which you get from roughly a pound of strawberries. 
• Sugar: We’re going to use granulated sugar in our strawberry sauce and powdered sugar in our whipped cream. 
• Cornstarch: For thickening the strawberry sauce.
• Water: We’ll use a little bit of cold water to make a cornstarch “slurry,” and then additional water for making the strawberry sauce. 
• Lemon juice: To add a bit of pleasing tartness to the strawberry sauce. 
• Heavy cream: Whipped cream is a key part of this strawberry trifle recipe.
• Greek yogurt: I love the tang that Greek yogurt adds to whipped cream. It keeps the whole dessert from being too sweet, and it also helps the whipped cream not immediately melt all over the place.

Step-By-Step Instructions

1. Prep strawberries and cake. Wash, then hull and quarter 1 lb of strawberries. You need 4 cups of cut strawberries total. Cut your angel food cake into 1” cubes. 
2. Make a cornstarch slurry. In a small bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons of cornstarch with 1½ tablespoons of cold water. Set aside. 
3. Make strawberry sauce. Combine 2 cups of quartered strawberries, ¾ cup of granulated sugar, ¼ cup of water, and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir and bring to a boil. After the mixture starts to boil, reduce the heat to low and add in your cornstarch slurry. Cook for 1 additional minute before adding the remaining 2 cups of cut strawberries, then cook for 1 more minute. Once the mixture has thickened, remove it from the heat and set aside.

4. Make Greek yogurt whipped cream. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, or using a hand mixer and a large mixing bowl, whip together 1½ cups of cold heavy cream, ¾ cup powdered sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract on medium speed until soft peaks form. Then add 1½ cups of Greek yogurt and mix just until combined. 
5. Assemble trifle. In the bottom of a trifle dish or a large glass bowl, scatter ⅓ of your cake cubes. Follow this with ⅓ of the whipped cream and ⅓ of the strawberry sauce (or slightly more—I prefer to use the majority of the strawberry sauce in the first two layers and finish with just a little bit on top). Repeat this process until you have three repeating layers of cake, cream, and strawberry sauce.

6. Chill trifle. Chill your trifle in the fridge for at least 1 hour, and up to 8 hours. This helps the flavors meld together a bit and makes it extra delicious. 
7. Serve. To make it extra special, slice fresh strawberries and place them on top. Or, just serve as is. Either way, it’s delicious!

Recipe Tips

Don’t have a trifle bowl? No worries! Use a large bowl (preferably glass so you can see the lovely layers, but if you don’t have one, anything will do) OR layer your strawberry trifle into individual cups to serve. 

If you don’t love the tang of Greek yogurt the way my family does, you can leave it out of your whipped cream (although you may need to add more whipped cream to make up for the volume). You can also add more or less powdered sugar based on your preference. You can also substitute whipped cream for vanilla pudding.

To make this trifle dairy-free, make my Coconut Whipped Cream.

While I looooove strawberries in the summertime, there are so many delicious fruits you can use instead. Raspberries, blackberries, or peaches would all be amazing—use the same amount (4 cups) and follow the sauce recipe as is. Or, for the Fourth of July, make half the strawberry sauce and then another half recipe of sauce with blueberries for red, white, and blue layers!

Make homemade angel food cake with my recipe! I’ll walk you through all the tricky bits. Or, just buy one. But be warned, if you do decide to make it from scratch, you may never be able to enjoy store-bought again!

If you don’t like angel food cake, use pound cake instead. It’s more dense and sweet, but still yummy.

Make Ahead, Storing, and Freezing

Make Ahead: You can make this trifle the night before, but I do recommend serving it on the same day and not letting it sit in the fridge for more than 8 hours. Over time, the liquid will start to seep into the angel food cake and make it a bit mushy, and the flavors will become less fresh and vibrant.

Storing: Store leftover strawberry trifle covered in the fridge for 2-3 days.

Freezing: You can freeze angel food cake after it’s freshly baked, but thawing may affect the texture and make it gritty due to the low fat content. You can also try freezing the strawberry sauce in a freezer-safe container or zip top bag for 1-2 months, but I do not recommend freezing the assembled trifle.

Recipe FAQs

More Summer Dessert Recipes

• Strawberries and Cream
• Peach Cream Pie
• S’mores Pie
• Blueberry Crisp
• Raspberry Ice Cream