Our raspberry trifle showcases both fresh raspberries and raspberry jam for a gorgeous dessert filled to the brim with refreshing sweet-tart flavors and soft pound cake.
chocolate curls, shavings, or cocoa powderoptional as garnish
Instructions
In a mixing bowl, beat together softened cream cheese, lemon juice, and 1 cup powdered sugar with a hand mixer until smooth and fluffy.
In a separate bowl or the bowl of a standing mixer, whisk the heavy whipping cream until soft peaks form. Add the remaining 1⁄2 cup powdered sugar and continue whisking until stiff peaks form.
Beat half (about 3 cups) of the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture, reserving the remainder for the top of the trifle.
Slice the pound cake into pieces (or you can use slices).
Build the trifle by layering 1⁄3 of the pound cake pieces. Drizzle 1⁄3 of the jam over the pound cake pieces.TIP - Warming the jam in the microwave so that is pourable makes drizzling the jam quite simple.
Dollop or pipe 1⁄3 of the cream cheese mixture over the pound cake and jam. (A piping bag or a gallon size Ziploc bag with the corner snipped off works great.)
Sprinkle 6 oz. (a heaping cup) of raspberries over the cream cheese mixture in the trifle.
Create a second and third layer of the ingredients, reserving some of the final raspberry layer to sprinkle over the top of the finished trifle.
Pipe or dollop the reserved whipped cream over the top of the trifle. Add a few more raspberries and some chocolate curls, if desired, to decorate the trifle.
Notes
When a recipe calls for softened cream cheese, it means the cream cheese should be at room temperature. Otherwise you will have a difficult time mixing it with the other ingredients. I recommend cubing the cream cheese and allowing it to sit on a plate at room temp for 30 minutes or until there's no longer a chill to it.
We used a store-bought pound cake, but you can use homemade. Be sure the pound cake is completely cooled before slicing and assembling the trifle.
Lemon juice isn’t necessary, but it adds a bit of tartness to the cream cheese mixture to contrast the sweetness from the jam and pound cake. You can also add 1 tablespoon vanilla extract to the cream cheese mixture.
You can use frozen raspberries instead of fresh. However, the frozen raspberries will release quite a bit of liquid as they thaw and may make the pound cake soggy. I would recommend omitting the jam if you do choose to use frozen raspberries. You can also thaw the frozen raspberries in a sieve and allow some of the excess juice to drain before adding to the trifle.
Use chocolate curls, chocolate sprinkles, cocoa powder, even mini chocolate chips to top the trifle for a bit of chocolate flavor. You can also top with raspberries or add a few lemon slices along with fresh raspberries.
To Store: Cover with plastic wrap or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.