This colorful Birthday Cake Funfetti Trifle recipe is the perfect excuse to party like it's your birthday any day of the year. This funfetti trifle is a celebration dessert that's both fun to make and eat.
Easy Birthday Cake Funfetti Trifle Recipe
It's no secret I love baking and most often, I choose to bake completely from scratch. It's a passion for me that was born from the sheer joy of taking simple ingredients from my pantry and turning them into something amazing. It's sort of a long held family tradition. I also know there are moments that it's completely fine to take advantage of convenience items to make life a little easier. That's where this trifle comes in. If just saying the phrase birthday cake makes your heart flutter then this funfetti trifle is for you. It's made with layers of cake and sprinkles with lots of whipped cream after all, what's a celebration without cake, right? Julia Childs was famous for saying, "A party without cake is just a meeting." I completely concur.
How to Make the Best Birthday Cake Funfetti Trifle Recipe
When do you serve a birthday cake trifle? Well first of all, it doesn't have to be your birthday. You can use this trifle recipe as a dessert for any special occasion from picnics, church and office potlucks, baby and bridal showers, graduation parties, the holidays and more. If it's a celebration, this funfetti trifle will be the talk of the table. It's a party in a bowl.
- Ingredients you'll need to make this recipe for Birthday Cake Funfetti Trifle: One box of golden vanilla or vanilla cake mix, rainbow sprinkles instant cheesecake pudding mix, whole milk or half and half, plain cream cheese, Cool whip and birthday cake Oreo cookies for garnishing.
- When using a cake mix for this birthday cake trifle I choose not to use the funfetti cake mix as I recommend that you use the same sprinkles in the cake as you use to garnish the cake. Should you prefer, you certainly can if you have sprinkles that match.
- I have also made this birthday cake trifle using my from scratch Old Fashioned Butter Cake recipe. That said, it's perfectly delicious using a cake mix as demonstrated in the recipe for the cake layers. If I say so myself, it's pretty fantastic either way.
- Rainbow sprinkles work wonderfully and they are everywhere you look. You can find them easily at grocery stores, baking supply and specialty stores, as well as big box stores such as Target and Walmart.
- How do you doctor a cake mix? One cake mix rule of thumb that I live by is; to replace the amount of water called for on the package with buttermilk. It does wonders for the texture of the cake.
- You can also add an extra egg and vanilla or almond flavoring to give the batter it a bit more flavor.
- The easy cheesecake mousse in this trifle is simply delicious and the ingredients aren't difficult to find.
- You can assemble this trifle one day in advance, then cover and chill in the refrigerator.
- Store leftover Birthday Cake Funfetti Trifle covered with plastic wrap in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
More Decadent Southern Trifle Recipes to Make
My love of trifles and birthday celebrations combined to make my day even more special this year, and not a spoonful of this crazy delicious birthday cake funfetti trifle was leftover. Trifles are an absolute love of mine and I have many other variations here on my website for you to try. See also a few from friends at the end of this list.
- Strawberry Cheesecake Trifle is perfection filled with the strawberries and cram flavor we love.
- Berry Trifle with White Chocolate Cream is a terrific choice for Patriotic holidays.
- Outrageous Lemon Lovers Trifle remains a viral Pinterest sensation.
- No worries about melting ice cream when you make a Banana Split Trifle for dessert.
- Turtle Cheesecake Trifle from Mom on Timeout
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Helpful Kitchen Items:
Birthday Cake Funfetti Trifle
Ingredients
- 1 15.25 oz box golden butter or vanilla cake mix plus ingredients to prepare
- ½ cup rainbow sprinkles plus additional for garnishing
- 2 3.4 oz boxes cheesecake instant pudding mix
- 3 cups whole milk or half and half
- 2 8 oz blocks cream cheese, softened
- 1 16 oz Cool-Whip, thawed or 4 cups sweetened fresh whipped cream
- 6 Birthday Cake Oreo Cookies for garnishing optional
Instructions
- Prepare the cake per the package instructions using a 13 x 9 inch baking pan. Mix ½ cup rainbow sprinkles into the batter by hand. Bake per the instructions and cool completely. Cool then cut into 1-inch cubes. Set aside. (Old Fashioned Butter Cake)
- Using an electric mixer, whip together both packages of pudding mix with 3 cups whle milk or half and half in a medium-size mixing bowl. Whip for 2 minutes or just until the pudding is beginning to thicken but is still pourable. Pour into another container. Set aside.
- In the same medium-size mixing bowl cream together the cream cheese with 2 cups whipped topping or fresh whipped cream. Whip just until combined.
- Add the pudding to the whipped creamed cheese mixture. Continue to whip on medium speed about 2 minutes or until smooth and fully combined.
- Layer the cake and mousse in a 4 quart trifle bowl or large glass bowl beginning with a layer of cake. Divide the cubed cake into thirds and the cheesecake mousse in half. Line the edge of the bowl with cubed cake and roughly crumble the cake in the center.
- Sprinkle each layer of mousse with additional sprinkles.
- Frost the top with the remaining whipped topping, garnish with sprinkles and Oreo cookies, as desired.
- Chill for at least 4 hours before serving. Store leftovers chilled.
Notes
2) To garnish the top of the trifle as pictured, (1) additional (8) oz container of whipped topping or 2 cups of fresh sweetened whipped cream will be needed.
Nutrition
My name is Melissa and I'm the Creator of Melissa's Southern Style Kitchen. Cooking, baking, developing recipes and kitchen tips is my passion. I love sharing my dishes and connecting with people through the food that I create.
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Carrie Arlene
This was really good and easy to make.
Melissa
Thank you!
Gail chase
Under the ingredients it says 3 cups whole milk and instructions says using 3 cups half and half. Which is correct. Thanks
Melissa
Hi Gail, you can use either one for this recipe. Half and half will give it a richer flavor, but mild will work fine.
Debbie
Would it problem if I doubled this recipe and just used a bigger trifle bowl?
Melissa
You can double this, sure.
Elaine
Do you have the nutritional information for this recipe?
Melissa
There are many free online apps and nutritional calculators you can use to calculate. This article from Good Housekeeping discussing some of the most popular may help.
Leslie
How would you modify if you used strawberry box cake?
Melissa
You'd follow the same process no need to change anything else.
Kelly
This was delicious and a big hit. I was unable to find the cheesecake pudding ( not sure if maybe that is a product only available in the US ) so I substituted vanilla pudding instead. I also added some sliced fresh strawberries and raspberries in between the layers. Will definitely make this again.
Melissa
I'm glad you enjoyed this trifle, thanks so much!
Sommer
I hope someone makes this for my birthday!
Melissa
Haha me, too!
Sonia
This stole the show!
Melissa
Thank you!
Toni
This was amazing!!! Such a fun idea for birthdays!!
Ashley @ Wishes & Dishes
This is my new favorite birthday treat!
Liz
You make the BEST trifles so I had to try this one! I was not disappointed---just delicious!!!
Ashley Stephenson
Say I make this for 50 people how much of each ingredient would I need to make enough
Melissa
I would recommend you make several rather than one huge batch.
Jennie
I'm so excited to try this trifle for my boyfriend's birthday! He loves funfetti cake and I've been looking for variations to try.
I won't have time to make the whole trifle on the day I need it, how much of it can be made in advance without compromising the final product?
Thanks!
Melissa
You can make the cake 2 days in advance if needed, cool then wrap tightly and chill. Assemble the entire trifle the day before and keep chilled and you'll be good to go. I hope he enjoys this one!
Sarah
I made this at Easter and it was such a huge hit, I didn't have any leftovers to take home! I'm back to see your modifications to the box mix for a strawberry cake I'm going to make.
Melissa
Oh great so happy you loved this one!
Barbara Mansfield
Are you sure on the 2 x 3.4 oz l cheesecake pudding? Jello sells 1 oz boxes. I'll need 7 boxes!
Melissa
I'm sorry but, you're mistaken. Cheesecake instant pudding mix made by Jell-O brand comes in 3.4-oz boxes. You do indeed need 2 total.
Karen
I also found the pudding only in 1 oz boxes
Sue
I just made this and didn't even look at the pudding box weight. I used 2 boxes of Jello brand cheesecake pudding BUT I see that they are indeed 1 oz boxes. They are sugar-free however which is why the weight is off! I did not find any cheesecake pudding mix that was not sugar-free. 2 boxes was plenty! In fact my trifle bowl was not big enough and I forgot the last layer of cake, oops!
Melissa
Well, I'm glad the amount was OK but, I can't say I've ever seen the sugar free in any size.
Bethany
This looks so delicious!!
Melissa
Thank you ☺
jenny
Would it be a problem if I used 2% milk?
Melissa
If you'd like to transform milk into homemade buttermilk add 1 Tbsp of distilled white vinegar or fresh lemon juice to 1 cup of milk. Let it sit for 2 minutes and it will curdle and you're good to go.
Lori Duchesne
How much Vanilla or Almond Extract would you recommend adding to the cake mix should I choose to do so?
This Trifle Recipe sounds amazing. Can't wait to try this trifle recipe since it's so not the normal versions we've all had or tend to make.
Melissa
I add 1 teaspoon of vanilla or 1/2 to almond extract. Almond extract is strong so perhaps begin with 1/4 tsp and taste, then you can adjust to your personal taste.