This vibrant and colorful spring dessert is made with layers of funfetti cake, creamy vanilla pudding and Cool Whip. Easter Trifle is easy to make, fun to eat and a delicious dessert enjoyed by all.
Are you looking for an easy dessert to serve with your Easter meal? I have the perfect dessert for you! Vanilla Easter Trifle. I love all those pretty pastels. It’s a dessert that’s almost too pretty to eat. Almost.
All you need is a trifle dish and a little imagination. Get the kids involved, too! They can help with its easy assembly.
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It gets a little messy when you serve it, but boy, does it ever taste delicious. You can experiment with different flavor combinations. I used vanilla and funfetti in this recipe.
If you’ve never made a trifle recipe before, this layered dessert is a great one to try.
Why You’ll Love This Easter Trifle
- Easy to prepare with boxed cake mix, instant pudding and Cool Whip
- Easter bunny approved
- Customizable to suit your preferences
- Can be made any time of year if you change up the colors and flavors
- Feeds a crowd
- Preparation can be started a day in advance
- Kids can help make
- Beautiful dessert for your Easter celebration
- Scrumptious with creamy pudding and layers of cake
- Perfect for people who like easy desserts
Ingredients
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- Party Rainbow Chip cake mix. Prepare the cake box mix according to the package directions. Funfetti cake mix can also be used.
- Vanilla instant pudding. Prepare two boxes of vanilla instant pudding according to the package directions.
- Milk. I used 2% milk.
- Blue and pink food coloring.
- Cool Whip. You can also make your own homemade Cool Whip if it’s not available in your area.
- Green, pink and blue edible candy grass.
- Easter egg candies for decorating. I used Whoppers Robin Eggs, but you could use chocolate eggs, mini eggs or make your own like these Easter Egg Oreo Truffles.
How to Make a Cake Trifle for Easter
- Step One: Bake the cake according to package directions, with parchment paper inside the pan for easy removal. After 10 minutes of the cake being out the oven, remove it from the pan and place on a cooling rack. Allow the cake to cool completely. Using a serrated knife, cut the cake into 1-inch pieces.
- Step Two: Prepare the pudding according to package directions, keeping each package of pudding in separate bowls. Add a few drops of blue food coloring to one bowl, then add a few drops of pink food coloring to the other bowl. Be sure to only add a little at a time until you get the desired color.
- Step Three: Tightly place one layer of cake cubes in the bottom of the trifle bowl or large glass bowl (fit as much cake as you can to not have gaps). Spoon one of the bowls of pudding mixture over the top of the cake. Now spoon in 2 cups of the Cool Whip over the pudding layer.
- Step Four: Repeat with another layer of cake, the other color of pudding, then 2 more cups of Cool Whip.
- Step Five: Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
- Step Six: Make bird nests (2 of each color) from the edible candy grass. Do this by holding a half-inch thick group of grass and spin the grass tightly in a circle starting with one end.
- Step Seven: Before serving, decorate the top of the trifle with 6 birds nests and add 3 candy eggs into each nest.
Equipment Needed
- Trifle bowl
- Mixing bowls
- Hand mixer (for the pudding)
- Measuring cups
What to Serve for Easter Dinner
Along with your Easter Trifle, here are some more ideas for easter meals.
- Carrot Casserole
- Brown Sugar Dijon Pork Tenderloin
- Air Fryer Asparagus
- Company Peas
- Cheesy Corn Casserole
- Swedish Potatoes
- Hot Cross Buns
Variations and Substitutions
- Substitute the vanilla instant pudding for another flavor. You could try banana, lemon or white chocolate pudding. Keep in mind that yellow and white colored puddings work best in order to dye them different colors.
- Use whipped cream instead of Cool Whip. You can make your own by combining 1 cup of heavy cream, 1/3 cup powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Beat until stiff peaks form.
- Try another flavor of cake. You could use a yellow or white cake mix. Lemon cake, sponge cake or angel food cake are also yummy.
- Include cookies. Add a layer or two of crushed Golden Oreos or other cookies.
- Make it more colorful. Add food coloring to the whipped topping for more colored layers.
- Small sweet details. Add sprinkles or berries to the layers.
Storage Instructions
Store Easter Trifle Bowl, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
I don’t recommend freezing this dessert.
Can I Make In Advance?
You can bake the cake one day in advance. This will allow you to assemble the trifle more quickly.
Recipe Tips
- When adding the cake to the trifle bowl, try to fit as many pieces of cake as you can in a single layer without gaps. You don’t want the pudding to seep through the gaps in the cake. You can break up the cake pieces to fill in any tiny gaps between the pieces of cake.
- The cake will be easier to cut if you chill it first.
- To get brighter colors, use a white chocolate pudding mix instead of vanilla. This way the food coloring is mixed with a white base versus a yellow base.
- Tightly roll the candy grass nests to get them to stay together. Stray strands can be tucked into the whipped topping to hold them in place.
- Refrigerating a trifle for at least 4 hours allows it to not fall apart as much when it’s being served. I find it tastes better chilled.
Easter Desserts
- Easter Bark
- Leftover Easter Candy Rice Krispie Treats
- Berry Cheesecake Trifle
- Classic Carrot Cake
- Easter Egg Brownies
- Italian Easter Cookies
Plus many more Easter recipes!
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Easter Trifle
Ingredients
- 1 box Party Rainbow Chip cake mix (or Funfetti cake mix) prepared according to package directions
- 2 packages vanilla instant pudding (3.4oz package)
- 4 cups milk
- blue and pink food coloring
- 1 container Cool Whip (16oz container) thawed
- green, pink and blue edible candy grass
- Easter egg candies for decorating
Instructions
- Bake the cake according to package directions, with parchment paper inside the pan for easy removal. After 10 minutes of the cake being out the oven, remove it from the pan and place on a cooling rack. Allow the cake to cool completely. Using a serrated knife, cut the cake into 1-inch pieces.
- Prepare the pudding according to package directions, keeping each package of pudding in a separate bowl. Add a few drops of blue food coloring to one bowl, then add a few drops of pink food coloring to the other bowl. Be sure to only add a little at a time until you get the desired color.
- Tightly place one layer of cake cubes in the bottom of the trifle dish or large glass bowl (fit as much cake as you can to not have gaps). Spoon one of the bowls of pudding over the top of the cake. Now spoon in 2 cups of the Cool Whip over the pudding.
- Repeat with another layer of cake, the other color of pudding, then 2 more cups of Cool Whip.
- Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
- Make bird nests (2 of each color) from the edible candy grass. Do this by holding a half-inch thick group of grass and spin the grass tightly in a circle starting with one end.
- Before serving, decorate the top of the trifle with 6 birds nests and add 3 candy eggs into each nest.
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Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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