Neapolitan Trifle

This easy Neapolitan Trifle recipe has layers of chocolate pudding, fresh strawberries and two flavors of cake. The whole thing is topped with cool whip for an impressive dessert you can assemble in no time!

Looking for an easy treat? Trifles are just what you need. Our jello poke cake is easily transformed into a sweet jello trifle with a few easy steps!

Easy Neapolitan Trifle recipe: layers of chocolate cake, pudding, strawberry cake, fresh berries and Cool Whip!

What is a Trifle

Have you tried my Neapolitan Cheesecake Cake recipe? I saved the leftover cake layers from that dessert and turned them into a trifle!

Trifle is a dessert made by layering cubes of cake with fruit and sweet custard or pudding. The cake soaks up some of the pudding and the liquid from the fruit so every bite tastes better than the last.

While trifles are most commonly eaten in England, you can find variations on the layered dessert everywhere. Because you don’t need a whole cake to make trifle, it’s a great way to use up leftover cake layers too.

Today’s Trifle recipe brings together fresh strawberry cake flavors with rich chocolate and creamy vanilla. I topped the whole thing off with cool whip for some extra decadence and a picture perfect presentation!

Ingredient Notes

Chocolate and Strawberry cakes – I used boxed cake mixes and baked the cakes in a 9 x 13 pan. Once cooled, cut each cake into 2 inch chunks.
Chocolate pudding – In this recipe, we use instant pudding mix whisked with milk for the pudding layer. You could use our homemade chocolate pudding too.
Cool whip – After layering the cakes and pudding, you’ll spoon this on top to complete your trifle. Feel free to use real whipped cream instead if you prefer. Our recipe for stabilized whipped cream is also a great substitute.
Fresh strawberries – You will need one pint of strawberries, hulled and sliced.

Tips and Tricks

The most labor intensive part of this trifle recipe is baking the cakes, and even that is easy when you use a mix! Bake the cakes as far in advance as you like and freeze them until you’re ready to assemble a trifle.

We only use half of each baked cake in this Neapolitan Trifle. Store the unused half of the cakes in the freezer to use in future trifles, cake balls or this Chocolate Cake Shake!
You can also skip the strawberry cake and use a whole chocolate cake instead. Vanilla white cake is another tasty variation on cake flavors you can try here.
Assemble this in a clear trifle bowl to show off all the layers!
I topped my Neapolitan Trifle with a chocolate covered strawberry. Totally optional, but pretty and delicious.

Recipe FAQs

How far in advance can I assemble this trife?

Once assembled, this trifle is best served the same day. You can keep leftover trifle covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Can I make the cakes from scratch instead of a mix?

You can absolutely use your favorite cake recipe instead of the mixes. The boxed mix is purely for convenience!

Does this trifle have alcohol?

We did not use any alcohol in this trifle recipe. While traditional English trifles usually call for soaking cakes or ladyfingers in liquor, many recipes,dincluding this one, leave that element out.

How long can I keep the baked cakes in the freezer?

Baked cakes keep well in the freezer for about 3 months. Make sure to store them well wrapped in sealed freezer bags to prevent freezer burn.

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