Summer Berry Trifle
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This berry trifle is perfect for a summer party — it’s refreshing, gorgeous, and make-ahead.
Photo by Alexandra Grablewski (Chronicle Books, 2018)
Berry trifles make wonderful (and patriotic) summer party desserts. Not only are they gorgeous, they feed a crowd and are made in advance. The only drawback is that, with all their layers, they can be time-consuming to make from scratch. I save time by using store-bought Savoiardi biscuits (a.k.a. crisp ladyfingers), cream cheese, and raspberry jam. The result is a dazzling, delicious berry trifle that can be made in 30 minutes. Use a deep, clear glass bowl or a footed glass trifle dish so the pretty layers can be seen. And don’t worry if the layers look slightly uneven or if the layers mix a bit — that’s the beauty of a trifle. You can also make the trifle in small glasses as individual parfaits.
“Oh my! This is so easy, beautiful and absolutely delicious!! Made for a party and everyone raved.”
What You’ll Need For Summer Berry Trifle
Step-By-Step Instructions
To begin, warm the raspberry jam in the microwave.
Toss it with the berries and let it sit while you prepare the rest of the trifle.
Beat the heavy cream until stiff peaks form, then set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the softened cream cheese and Confectioners’ sugar.
Beat until smooth and creamy, then beat in the vanilla.
Add a third of the whipped cream.
Beat until smooth and then add the remaining cream.
Fold with a rubber spatula until evenly combined.
To assemble, begin by layering the lady fingers in the bottom of the dish. Top with a third of the berry mixture, followed by a third of the cream. Continue alternating the lady fingers, berries, and cream.
End with the cream cheese mixture on top; for the last layer of cream, leave a 1-inch border around the edge showing the fruit beneath. Sprinkle some berries and a fresh mint on top.
Let the trifle chill for at least 8 hours, then top with some fresh berries and a spring of fresh mint, if desired.
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Video Tutorial
Summer Berry Trifle
This berry trifle is perfect for a summer party — it’s refreshing, gorgeous, and make-ahead.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (8 oz) seedless raspberry jam
- 1 quart (1½ pounds) strawberries, hulled and cut into ¼-inch slices
- 1 pint (12 oz) raspberries
- 1 pint (12 oz) blueberries
- 1½ cups heavy whipping cream, cold
- 16 ounces cream cheese (preferably Philadelphia brand), at room temperature
- 1¾ cups confectioners' sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 (7 oz) package crisp lady fingers (also called savoiardi biscuits)
- Fresh mint spring, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Set aside a few berries for topping the trifle.
- Heat the raspberry jam in a large bowl in the microwave for about 1 minute, or until hot and liquidy. Add the fresh berries and toss to coat. Let sit while you prepare the rest of the recipe, stirring occasionally.
- In a large bowl, whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
- In another large bowl, beat the softened cream cheese with the powdered sugar until smooth and creamy. Beat in the vanilla, then beat in a third of the whipped cream. Using a large rubber spatula, fold in the rest of the whipped cream until well combined.
- Cover the bottom of a 9-inch (14-cup capacity) trifle dish or glass bowl with a layer of lady fingers (break into pieces as necessary). Follow with ⅓ of the berry-jam mixture (including ⅓ of the juices), then ⅓ of the cream. Alternate, ending with the cream cheese mixture on top; for the last layer of cream, leave a 1-inch border around the edge showing the fruit beneath. Garnish with the reserved whole berries and a fresh mint spring if using. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours, or overnight, before serving.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (10 servings)
- Calories: 554
- Fat: 31g
- Saturated fat: 18g
- Carbohydrates: 65g
- Sugar: 41g
- Fiber: 5g
- Protein: 7g
- Sodium: 197mg
- Cholesterol: 143mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Absolutely delicious. Made this for some potluck bbqs over the summer and everyone loved them.
Jenn, I would live to try this for our NZ summer Christmas. I have found the correct brand of biscuit but since I have no idea what lady fingers are, will biscotti work or do I keep looking? Many thanks, Susan
Hi Susan, I think the texture of biscotti will be too hard for this. If you can’t find the ladyfingers, it’s fine to use cut up pound cake. Hope you enjoy!
Hi Jen, lovvvve all your recipes which I pretty much make daily and I have your cookbook . I have made this trifle and we all love it. I have a question. My sister in law has gluten and dairy allergies. Any suggestions on how to make this gluten and dairy free?
So glad you like the recipes, Vicky! You could make a gluten-free cake to use instead of the ladyfingers in the trifle. Also, I saw that there is a brand of gluten-free ladyfingers that may work. The dairy-free element is more challenging as I’m not sure how dairy-free options would translate here. You could try looking for dairy-free cream cheese and a dairy-free whipped cream, just not certain how it will turn out as I haven’t tried it this way. Please LMK what you think if you try it!
This turned out excellent! My grocery store didn’t have the hard variety of lady fingers, just the soft ones in the bakery section, so I just placed them on a baking sheet in the oven at the lowest setting (170 degrees for mine) until they dried out. Mine was refrigerated for more then 8 hours and the texture was fine – not too mushy. I also used black raspberry seedless jam in place of plain raspberry jam and it was a fine substitution. The remaining ingredients and amounts I kept exactly as written and everyone loved it. I will definitely make this my go-to summer dessert. Thank you 🙂
I’ve made this several times and it always gets rave reviews! I brought it to a BBQ yesterday hoping to have leftovers, but it was the only dish completely gone. Several people asked for the recipe. I’ve made many recipes from the website and cookbook that have all been hits, several friends and family members use this site now too! Thank you so much!!
I see you say it should be refrigerated for 8 hours. Can it be refrigerated for up to 12 hours? Also if I use pound cake instead does it need to be refrigerated as long?
Sure, Gayle, it’s fine to refrigerate it for 12 hours. And, if you use pound cake, you could abbreviate the chilling time a bit, but I’d encourage you not to do much less than 8 hours. Hope you enjoy!
Hi Jenn – discovered your website just a few months ago and it is already my :go-to” – have tried at least a dozen recipes (this will be the 3rd I’ve made since yesterday!) – everything is wonderful and delicious. Question on the trifle, specifically the sugar content: I’ve made this once already, and it did come out looking and tasting delicious, but I we found the cream cheese “frosting” too sweet. I had thought that might be the case, but was afraid to substitute or reduce the confectioner’s sugar in case the consistency of the mixture would be affected. Now that I would like to make it again, but not so sweet, I wanted to see if you have any advice: can I eliminate the confectioner’s sugar entirely, reduce my half or even more, swap out with greek yogurt for a tarter taste? Thanks again for all the wonderful recipes…hope to purchase the cookbook soon! Already made & on the menu for tonight: Watermelon Gazpacho & Bulger salad with dill & cucumbers. yum!
Hi Kim, So happy you’re enjoying the recipes! I think you could reduce the confectioners’ sugar by half w/o any issues – and that would reduce the sweetness significantly. Hope that helps. 🙂
I switched out the cream cheese and substituted crepe fraiche and marscapone cheese…blended that with a packet of stevia and it was lighter tasting. Great recipe-easy to do and whenever I make it-people want the recipe,
Can this be make one day ahead?
Sure, Gloria.
Can I use marscpone instead of cream cheese?
Sure, Rosanne — that should work.
This recipe is phenomenal! Its the best summer dessert that ever was :-). I used only strawberries and blueberries and strawberry jam instead of raspberry jam. I also used maybe a 1/2 cup of jam because I ran out. It tasted amazing and it looked amazing. Thanks for another amazing recipe!