Strawberry Cheesecake Trifle

Course Dessert

Cuisine American, Southern

Keyword black-bottomed-strawberry-cheesecake-pie, strawberry-cheesecake-trifle, strawberry-trifle

Prep Time 20

Chill Time 4

Total Time 4 20

Servings servings

Calories 463kcal

Author Melissa Sperka

Strawberry layer: Hull and cube the strawberries. In a medium bowl, mix together the cubed fresh strawberries with 1/3 cup granulated sugar and 1 juiced lemon (about 3 tablespoons). Stir to combine then set aside for 10 minutes to macerate.
After 10 minutes add the strawberry pie filling to the macerated strawberries, mix until fully combined. Set aside.
Cheesecake Layer: Using an electric mixer whip together the cream cheese with 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar and 1 1/2 cups heavy cream in a large bowl. Add 2 teaspoons vanilla. Whip for 2-3 minutes on medium-high speed until creamy, fluffy and combined.
In a separate bowl use the mixer to whip the remaining 2 1/2 cups heavy cream with 1/2 cup powdered sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Whip until stiff peaks form, don't overbeat.
Fold 2 cups of the whipped cream into the cheesecake mixture by hand. Reserve the remaining whipped cream for the top.
Assemble: In a large glass bowl or trifle dish arrange alternate layers of cubed cake, strawberries, and vanilla cheesecake mousse in that order. Repeat until all ingredients have been used. (Layers could vary slightly depending on the size of the bowl. A 5-6 quart bowl works best.)
Frost the top with the reserved whipped cream and garnish as desired. Chill for at least 4 hours or overnight, prior to serving. (You can also frost the top with cool whip.)
Store leftovers chilled for up to 4 days.

Angel Food Cake Substitutions - You could use a strawberry cake or a pound cake for the cake layers in this trifle.
Flavorings - For the cheesecake layer, you could replace some of the vanilla extract with almond extract or strawberry extract.
Fresh Berries - You could add a layer, or two, of fresh blueberries for a red, white and blue trifle.
Why Use Pie Filling? It's a shortcut hack to make the strawberry layer more pie-like. If you want to adapt using one of the packets of premade strawberry glaze found in the produce department, you could.
Decorate the Top to Suit Your Taste - You don't have to get super fancy with the whipped cream on top. It's perfectly fine to frost the top just as you would a cake using cool whip and decorate it with fresh strawberries.
Homemade Cake - Make your own Angel Food Cake or Buttermilk Pound Cake.