A trifle is the easiest showstopper on a Christmas table. You layer cake, cream and something fruity or chocolatey in a clear bowl, chill it, and it looks like you spent all day on it. Most of the recipes below take under an hour of actual work, and several need no baking at all. That matters in December, when the oven is already booked and the kitchen is crowded.
These Christmas trifle recipes come from real food bloggers, each credited by name with a link to their own page. The list runs from classic cranberry and gingerbread trifles to peppermint tiramisu and a hot chocolate trifle that tastes like the mug, in bowl form. Some use alcohol, and I have flagged those in the text. One uses store-bought marshmallows, which contain gelatin, and I have flagged that too. Everything else in the list is gelatin-free, and every item is meat-free, but because of that one marshmallow topping I have not called this a vegetarian roundup.
If you want more ideas in the same spirit, our vegetarian Christmas desserts roundup has 20 more make-ahead desserts for the season.
1. Gingerbread trifle with caramel and gingersnaps
Recipe by Kristen Elaine of Amanda’s Cookin’: Gingerbread Trifle
Soft gingerbread cake cubes, French vanilla pudding, whipped cream and a caramel drizzle, with gingersnaps for crunch. Kristen builds it in three simple layers and it comes together fast, which is exactly what you want when the oven is already busy. A few gingerbread men on top make it look like you tried much harder than you did.
2. Black Forest trifle with cherries and chocolate curls
Recipe by Jill Mills of Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons: Black Forest Trifle
Devil’s food cake, chocolate pudding, cherry pie filling and homemade whipped cream, finished with fresh cherries and chocolate curls. Jill starts with a cake mix and only uses half of it, so you get a second dessert out of the deal if you freeze the rest. The chocolate-and-cherry pairing is the whole point here, and it delivers.
3. Chocolate peppermint trifle with white chocolate mousse
Recipe by Tatyana of Tatyana’s Everyday Food: Peppermint Chocolate Trifle
Chocolate cake soaked with a peppermint syrup, layered with a white chocolate mousse made from white chocolate and sweetened condensed milk, then finished with crushed candy canes. Tatyana’s version skips egg whites and custard in the mousse, so it is simpler than it looks. The red-and-white top is the most Christmas thing in this whole list.
4. Cranberry berry Christmas trifle with compote
Recipe by Emma of Emma’s Cake Studio: Christmas Trifle Recipe
Pound cake or sponge layered twice with a cranberry, raspberry and blueberry compote and whipped cream or vanilla custard, topped with fresh cranberries, pistachios and mint. Emma’s one rule is worth repeating: the compote has to be completely cold before it meets the cream. Note the alcohol flag: her cake layer calls for an optional splash of sweet sherry or orange liqueur. Leave it out and use orange juice, and the trifle is completely alcohol-free.
5. Eggnog trifle with gingersnaps
Recipe by Kelsey Byrnes of Dance Around the Kitchen: Eggnog Trifle
Cream cheese, eggnog yogurt, eggnog and vanilla pudding whipped into a thick filling, layered with gingersnap cookies and whipped cream. The cookies go around the edge of the bowl too, so the layers look striped from the outside. It needs a long chill, at least 12 hours in Kelsey’s notes, so this is a make-it-the-night-before dessert.
6. Red velvet Christmas trifle with vanilla pudding
Recipe by Aubrey of Real Housemoms: Christmas Trifle
Red velvet cake from a box mix, layered with a vanilla pudding and cream cheese filling and Cool Whip, finished with Christmas sprinkles. Aubrey bakes the cake in a jelly-roll pan so it cools fast and cuts into neat cubes. It serves 12 and it is the easiest red thing you can put on a Christmas table.
7. White chocolate raspberry trifle
Recipe by Celebrating Sweets: White Chocolate Raspberry Trifle
Store-bought angel food or pound cake, a two-ingredient white chocolate mousse, raspberry jam and fresh raspberries. That is the whole recipe, and it is one of the prettiest in this list because the red and white layers do all the work. Use a tart, lower-sugar jam if you can find one; there is already plenty of sweetness in the bowl.
8. Strawberry shortcake trifle
Recipe by Megan of Olives n Thyme: Strawberry Shortcake Trifle
Angel food cake, macerated strawberries with jam, and a whipped cream cheese filling sweetened with condensed milk. Megan’s version is no-bake and takes about 35 minutes to assemble. Strawberries in December are a gamble, so buy the best-looking berries you can find and taste them before you sweeten; the recipe only works if the fruit is ripe. The recipe as written has no alcohol; a splash of bourbon or amaretto appears only as an optional variation in her tips.
9. Pumpkin trifle with spiced cake and walnuts
Recipe by Melissa Nolan of Budget Bytes: Pumpkin Trifle
A homemade spiced cake made with applesauce for moisture, layered with a pumpkin cheesecake filling and homemade whipped cream, finished with chopped walnuts. Melissa costs the whole thing at about $12.42, which makes it the cheapest crowd dessert in this list. Bake the cake a day ahead so it is fully cool before you cube it.
10. Apple pie trifle cups with caramel and pecans
Recipe by Brooke of Fresh in the Kitchen: Apple Pie Trifle
Warm cinnamon apples, crumbled butter pie crust, vanilla pudding and whipped cream, layered in individual cups and finished with caramel sauce and pecans. Brooke’s version is apple pie without the slicing and serving fuss, and the single-serving cups mean no one has to wait for a scoop. Gala or Honeycrisp hold up best in the filling.
11. Banana pudding trifle with vanilla wafers
Recipe by Jackie of Simmer and Sage: Quick & Easy Banana Pudding
Instant banana pudding, vanilla wafers, sliced bananas and Cool Whip, layered three times in a trifle dish. Four ingredients, no baking, and the bananas pressed against the glass make it look far fancier than the effort involved. Chill it at least an hour so the wafers soften into something cake-like.
12. Oreo trifle with chocolate cake and Oreo whipped cream
Recipe by Chelsey White of Chelsweets: Oreo Trifle
Fluffy chocolate sheet cake, chocolate pudding, crushed Oreos and a stabilized Oreo whipped cream made with cream cheese. Chelsey’s recipe feeds about 30, so halve it unless you are feeding a crowd, or make it in individual cups. It is the one to pick when kids are at the table and you want zero leftovers.
13. Peppermint tiramisu trifle
Recipe by Mia Grace of The Kitchen Said: Tiramisu Trifle with Chocolate and Peppermint
Coffee-soaked ladyfingers, mascarpone cream, cocoa and shaved chocolate, with peppermint extract in the coffee and crushed peppermint candy on top. It is fully no-bake and it actually improves after a night in the fridge. Mia Grace notes an optional splash of peppermint schnapps or coffee liqueur for an adults-only version; without it, the trifle is alcohol-free. Dip the ladyfingers fast or they fall apart.
14. Lemon trifle with blueberries and shortbread
Recipe by Amy Flanigan of Belly Full: Easy Lemon Trifle
Angel food cake, lemon curd, lemon pudding, blueberries, crushed shortbread cookies and Cool Whip, topped with piped cream and lemon slices. It is the lightest thing in this list and the one to serve when the table is already heavy with chocolate. Amy’s recipe is alcohol-free as written; her tip mentions an optional drizzle of limoncello over the cake for adults.
15. Cherry cheesecake trifle
Recipe by That’s Nerdalicious: Cherry Cheesecake Trifle
Angel food cake, a cream cheese filling made with vanilla yogurt and French vanilla pudding, whipped topping and cherry pie filling. It is a no-bake tribute to the blogger’s grandmother’s “Cherry Cloud”, and it serves 12 to 16, so it is built for a full house. Chill it overnight if you can; the layers need the time to settle.
16. Cranberry pomegranate Christmas trifles in jars
Recipe by Bernice Hill of Dish ‘n’ the Kitchen: Cranberry Pomegranate Christmas Trifle
Individual trifles in half-pint jars: pound cake, instant vanilla pudding made with eggnog instead of milk, leftover cranberry sauce and pomegranate seeds, topped with stabilized whipped cream. Bernice built this one to use up leftover cranberry sauce, and she deliberately left the alcohol out, so it works for the whole table. Make four jars in about 20 minutes, right after the main course.
17. Hot chocolate trifle with marshmallow fluff
Recipe by Jillian of A Bajillian Recipes: Hot Chocolate Trifle
Chocolate cake, a hot chocolate cream filling made with cream cheese and hot chocolate mix, fudge sauce and a homemade marshmallow fluff, topped with whipped cream and mini marshmallows. It tastes like the mug, in trifle form. One thing to know: the mini marshmallows on top are the usual store-bought kind, which are made with gelatin, so this is the one trifle in the list that is not gelatin-free. Swap them for extra whipped cream or gelatin-free marshmallows if that matters at your table.
18. Chocolate brownie trifle with toffee bits
Recipe by Suburban Simplicity: Easy Chocolate Trifle
Fudgy brownies, chocolate pudding, whipped topping and toffee bits, layered and chilled for 8 hours or overnight. It is the simplest recipe in this list after the banana pudding one: a box of brownie mix, a box of pudding, and a tub of whipped topping. The long chill is not optional, so build it the night before and let the layers do their thing.
How to layer a trifle so it holds up
A trifle only looks good if the layers stay where you put them. A few habits make the difference between clean stripes and a brown blur.
Start with cake, not cream. A cake layer at the bottom soaks up moisture from the layers above and gives the whole thing a base. Cream first just slides around.
Let hot things cool. Compote, custard and cooked fruit have to be fully cold before they touch whipped cream or pudding, or the cream melts and the layers bleed together. Emma’s cranberry trifle above is the clearest example: cold compote, or the whole bowl turns pink.
Do not over-soak. A drizzle of syrup, juice or coffee over the cake is enough. Ladyfingers in the tiramisu trifle need a quick dip, not a bath, or they dissolve.
Chill before serving. Two hours is the minimum for most of these; overnight is better for the eggnog, cherry cheesecake and brownie trifles. The cake softens, the flavors mix, and the layers set. Add the whipped cream topping and any crunchy garnish at the last minute so they stay crisp.
Use a clear bowl. Half the point of a trifle is seeing the layers. A glass trifle bowl, a large glass mixing bowl, or individual jars and cups all work. If you are serving the hot chocolate trifle, a mug of our homemade hot chocolate recipes on the side never hurts.
Christmas trifle questions
Can I make a Christmas trifle the day before?
Yes, and most of them taste better for it. The eggnog trifle needs at least 12 hours, the cherry cheesecake trifle is best chilled overnight, and the brownie trifle needs 8 hours. Assemble the layers the day before, cover the bowl, and add the whipped cream topping and crunchy garnishes just before serving so they stay fresh.
How long does trifle last in the fridge?
Most trifles keep 2 to 3 days covered in the fridge. The cake gets softer each day, which some people actually prefer. After day three the whipped cream starts to weep and the layers lose their shape, so plan to finish it by then. Do not freeze an assembled trifle; the cream and custard turn grainy when thawed.
Do Christmas trifles have alcohol in them?
Some do, some do not. The classic English trifle soaks the sponge in sherry, and a few recipes in this list keep that tradition as an option: Emma’s cranberry trifle calls for an optional splash of sherry or orange liqueur, the tiramisu trifle mentions an optional splash of peppermint schnapps or coffee liqueur, and the lemon trifle has an optional limoncello drizzle in its tips. In every case the alcohol is optional and the recipe works without it; orange juice or coffee is the usual swap. The rest of the recipes here are alcohol-free as written.
What is the best bowl for a trifle?
A clear glass trifle bowl with straight sides, about 3 to 4 quarts, is the standard. The straight sides show the layers cleanly and the foot keeps it stable on the table. If you do not own one, a large glass mixing bowl works, or build individual trifles in jars, stemless wine glasses or dessert cups, like the cranberry pomegranate and apple pie recipes above.
Can I make trifle without a trifle bowl?
Yes. Any deep, clear container shows the layers: a glass salad bowl, a large mason jar, or individual glasses. The recipes that serve 4, like the cranberry pomegranate jars, are designed for small containers from the start. Just keep the layers even and do not overfill, or the top layer will slide when you move the bowl.
Which trifle should I make if I have never made one?
Start with the banana pudding trifle or the chocolate brownie trifle. Both use a handful of store-bought ingredients, need no baking skill, and are hard to get wrong. If you want something that looks more impressive with the same effort, the white chocolate raspberry trifle is five ingredients and the red and white layers do the showing off for you. And if eggnog is already in your fridge, our roundup of 18 eggnog recipes has plenty more ways to use the carton.
A dessert that does the work for you
That is the real case for a trifle at Christmas: it feeds a crowd, it can be built a day ahead, and it looks like a centerpiece without any decorating skill. Pick one that fits your table, read the creator’s recipe all the way through before you start, and give it the chill time it asks for. The layers will do the rest.
If you want more make-ahead Christmas desserts, our 18 Christmas fudge recipes are another good place to look, and they keep for weeks in the fridge.
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