Fresh Red White and Blue Strawberry Shortcake Trifle
A quick and easy patriotic dessert featuring layers of angel food cake, macerated strawberries, blueberry compote, and whipped cream. Perfect for summer celebrations and crowd-pleasing.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Scale
- Angel food cake or store-bought pound cake, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1/4 cup whole milk or vanilla almond milk
- 3 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
- 1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon zest (optional)
- 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, chilled
- 1/4 cup powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Prepare the strawberries: In a medium bowl, combine sliced strawberries, granulated sugar, and lemon juice. Toss gently and let sit at room temperature for 10 minutes to macerate.
- Make the blueberry compote: In a small saucepan, combine blueberries, honey, water, and lemon zest. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until blueberries burst and mixture thickens, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and cool completely.
- Whip the cream: Using an electric mixer or hand whisk, beat chilled heavy cream with powdered sugar and vanilla extract until soft peaks form. Avoid overbeating.
- Soak the cake cubes: Place cubed angel food cake in a large bowl. Drizzle with 1/4 cup milk and toss gently to moisten without making mushy.
- Assemble the trifle in a glass bowl: layer soaked cake cubes evenly, add macerated strawberries with juices, spoon whipped cream over berries, add dollops of blueberry compote. Repeat layers until bowl is full, finishing with whipped cream and garnish with whole strawberries and blueberries.
- Chill the trifle for at least 1 hour before serving to let flavors meld and cake soak up juices.
Notes
Chill bowl and beaters before whipping cream for best volume. Drain excess strawberry juice if too watery to avoid soggy cake. Blueberry compote can be made a day ahead. For dairy-free, use coconut cream and almond milk. Gluten-free cake can be substituted for angel food cake.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: About 1 cup per serv
- Calories: 275
- Sugar: 24
- Sodium: 120
- Fat: 15
- Saturated Fat: 9
- Carbohydrates: 32
- Fiber: 3
- Protein: 3
Keywords: strawberry shortcake, trifle, patriotic dessert, Fourth of July dessert, blueberry compote, easy summer dessert