Strawberry Cream Trifle

Strawberries are definitely my absolute favorite fruit out of all of them. I can't get enough of them. I could eat a big bowl of strawberries for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This dessert just did it for me. I can't wait to have an excuse to make it again. Hehe! My favorite summer dessert is strawberry shortcake. This trifle reminded me of just that. It was like a deconstructed strawberry shortcake in a huge bowl. I could go on and on about how good this dessert was. I was out of almonds when I made this, but I imagine it would have been awesome with them for that added crunch. The strawberry yogurt/cheesecake mixture is SO dang YUMMY! I could eat that alone. Try it, I promise you won't be disappointed. (Sorry the picture isn't so great. I left my Canon @ our house, and we were at the in-laws' eating dinner. And, yes, I know that's not a trifle bowl. I don't own one. I know right!)


INGREDIENTS

• ½ cup sliced almonds, toasted - I was out, so no almonds in mine.
• 1 pkg (10.75 oz) frozen pound cake, thawed
• 1 quart fresh strawberries
• 1 container (16 oz) frozen sliced strawberries in syrup, thawed
• 1 lemon
• 3 containers (8 oz each) blended strawberry yogurt -  I used 4 (6 oz) strawberry Yoplait yogurts.
• 1 pkg (3.4 oz) cheesecake instant pudding and pie filling
• 1 container (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed, divided
• Powdered sugar - I didn't use this either.

DIRECTIONS

1. Coarsely chop almonds. Cut pound cake into 1-inch cubes; set aside. Set aside the prettiest strawberry for garnish. Hull remaining strawberries, and cut into quarters. In a large bowl, combine fresh and frozen strawberries; mix well. 

2. Juice lemon to measure 2 tablespoons of juice. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk lemon juice, yogurt, and pudding mix until smooth; immediately fold in 1 cup of the whipped topping.

3. To assemble trifle, place 1/3 of the pound cake cubes into the bottom of the trifle bowl. Top pound cake with 1/3 of the strawberry mixture. Top with half of the yogurt mixture, spreading evenly. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the almonds. Repeat layers one time. Top with remaining pound cake cubes and remaining strawberry mixture.

4. To garnish, spread remaining whipped topping over top of trifle, forming a flat surface. Sprinkle remaining almonds over whipped topping. Sprinkle with powdered sugar using a sifter. Create strawberry fan with reserved strawberry, and place into center of trifle.

Recipe Source: Pampered Chef Season's Best

Some tips from Pampered Chef:

Vanilla or white chocolate pudding and pie filling can be substituted for the cheesecake pudding, if desired. 

To make a strawberry fan quick & easy, use an egg slicer. Open the egg slicer, place the strawberry stem end down; slice most of the way through with the wires. Remove strawberry, and gently fan out slices.