Easy Patriotic Trifle

This Easy Patriotic Trifle is decorated to look like an American flag and layered with vanilla pudding, angel food cake, whipped topping, and fresh berries. A light, sweet, and no-bake recipe for a patriotic event like Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day.

I love summer for so many reasons and one of them is definitely all of the light, sweet, fruit-based desserts. Also, fresh strawberries and blueberries make it so easy to make anything patriotic 🙂

Today I am sharing my easy patriotic trifle recipe. You can check out more of my patriotic recipes and party ideas here.

Easy Patriotic Trifle: Table of Contents

• Ingredients
• Equipment
• Instructions
• Video
• Tips
• Recipe Card

Easy Patriotic Trifle Ingredients

1. Instant vanilla pudding (+ milk): the ‘foundation’ for your trifle.
2. Angel food cake: the ‘building blocks’ for your trifle.
3. Whipped topping: the white ‘stripes’ of an American flag. 
4. Strawberries: the red ‘stripes’ of an American flag.
5. Blueberries: the blue ‘rectangle’ of an American flag.
6. White star sprinkles: the white stars of an American flag.

Easy Patriotic Trifle Equipment

1. 9×13 glass baking dish: the ‘framework’ for your trifle.
2. Cutting board: to cut the angel food cake and strawberries.
3. Chef’s knife: to cut the angel food cake and strawberries.
4. Spatula: to layer the pudding and whipped topping.
5. Liquid measuring cup: to measure the milk for the instant pudding.
6. Mixing bowl: to prepare the instant vanilla pudding.
7. Whisk: to combine the instant pudding mix and milk.

How To Make An Easy Patriotic Trifle Recipe

1. Prepare your trifle ingredients

These steps can be completed as early as the night before you plan to serve your trifle.

Simply store the diced strawberries, cubed angel food cake, and prepared vanilla pudding in individual Tupperware in the fridge overnight.

1. Wash and dice the strawberries.
2. Cut the angel food cake into 1.5″ squares.
3. Prepare two boxes of instant vanilla pudding.

2. Layer the trifle

These steps should be completed four to six hours before serving your trifle.

1. Spread the prepared vanilla pudding on the bottom of a 9×13 glass baking dish.
2. Next, layer on the cubed angel food cake.
3. Top with whipped topping and spread evenly over the cake.
4. Using a knife, outline the flag shape: five stripes and a small rectangle in the upper left corner.
5. Add the diced strawberries to the first, third, and fifth rows.
6. Add the blueberries to the rectangle.
7. Place white star sprinkles on top of some of the blueberries.
8. Refrigerate the trifle for four hours before serving.

Tips For Your Easy Patriotic Trifle

Storing Your Trifle

You won’t be able to use the plastic lid that typically comes with 9×13 glass baking dishes, since it will ‘smush’ the fruit into the whipped topping.

Instead, I recommend inserting toothpicks around the perimeter of the trifle and then covering it with plastic wrap.

Traveling With Your Trifle

Bringing your trifle to a barbeque or potluck is a bit tricky since you can’t cover it with the plastic lid that comes with the 9×13 glass baking dish.

Also, you want to minimize the time the trifle is in the summer heat.

If you do plan to travel with your trifle, I recommend covering it using the toothpick-plastic-wrap approach, as detailed in the section above.

Another tip – add the white star sprinkles once you arrive to the party so that they don’t fall off the blueberries while you travel.

Trifle Alterations and Substitutions

Pan

You could also use a 9×9 square baking dish if you don’t have a 9×13 baking dish or just want to make a smaller batch.

If you use a 9×9 baking dish, keep in mind, your flag will now be a square shape, instead of a rectangular shape.

Fruit

You can swap strawberries for raspberries and/or blueberries for blackberries.

Also, if you’d like to incorporate more fruit, add additional berries when you layer the angel food cake on top of the vanilla pudding.

Instant Vanilla Pudding

There are so many instant pudding flavors to substitute such as Banana Cream, Cheesecake, Creme Brulee, Custard, Lemon, Strawberry, and White Chocolate. Check out the full list of Jell-O Instant Pudding flavors here.

Another option is to make your own pudding (like this New York Times Vanilla Pudding Recipe)!

Angel Food Cake

Instead of angel food cake, you could use pound cake or a vanilla sheet cake.

Again, of course, you can also make your own angel food cake (like this Sally Baking Addiction Angel Food Cake Recipe)!

Other Patriotic Recipes and Party Ideas

Easy Patriotic Trifle

This Easy Trifle is decorated to look like an American flag and layered with vanilla pudding, angel food cake, whipped topping, and fresh berries. A light, sweet, and no-bake recipe for a patriotic event like Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Resting Time 4 hours hrs

Total Time 4 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Course Appetizer, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine American

Servings 20 slices

Equipment

• 9x13 glass baking dish
• Cutting board
• Chefs knife
• Spatula
• Liquid measuring cup
• Mixing bowl
• Whisk

Ingredients

  

• 2 pkgs Instant Vanilla Pudding (3.4 oz each)
• 4 cups Skim Milk (for the instant pudding)
• 10 oz Angel Food Cake (about 14 oz in one store-bought container)*
• 2 pkgs Whipped Topping (8 oz each)
• 2 pkgs Strawberries (16 oz each)
• 1 pint Blueberries
• White Star Sprinkles

Instructions

 

Prepare the trifle ingredients

• Wash and dice the strawberries.
• Cut the angel food cake into 1.5" squares
• Prepare two boxes of instant vanilla pudding: combine the pudding powder and milk in a large mixing bowl and whisk together for 3-4 minutes.

Layer the trifle

• Spread the prepared vanilla pudding on the bottom of the glass baking dish.
• Layer on the cubed angle food cake.
• Top with whipped topping and spread evenly over the cake using a spatula.
• Using a knife, lightly outline the flag shape on the whipped topping: five stripes and a small rectangle in the upper left corner.
• Add the diced strawberries to the first, third, and fifth rows you outlined with the knife.
• Add blueberries to the small rectangle you outlined with the knife.
• Place white star sprinkles on top of some of the blueberries.

Refrigerate the trifle for four hours before serving.

Notes

*I experimented a bit with the right amount of angel food cake for this recipe. The sweet spot is about 10 oz or 3/4 of a 14 oz container from the grocery store. Using only a half cake (7 oz), was not enough, and an entire cake (14 oz) was too much.

Keyword American Flag, Summer Recipe, Triffle

I Want To Hear From You!

Let me know if you have any questions or comments below.

Also, if you made this trifle, I’d love to see it! Just tag me on Instagram: @lifestyledbysam_