The Best Easter Trifle

Jump to Recipe

This easy Vanilla Easter Trifle is not only a feast for the eyes but it's over-the-top delicious too! Made with cake mix and instant vanilla pudding, Easter dessert just got a whole lot easier!

Easter vanilla trifle in glass trifle bowl with coloured nests and mini candy eggs on top as garnish.

I love trifles and how pretty they look despite being incredibly easy to make. You can certainly go all in and make a cake from scratch with homemade custard and whipped cream, like my Peach Trifle Recipe, but for Easter, we are opting for the quick and easy cake mix, instant pudding and store-bought whipped topping version!!

Equally delicious and so much simpler to make. You can use whatever flavor of cake mix you like and tint the vanilla easter pudding in your favorite light pastel colors.

The candy nests on the top and Easter candy you can typically find in some grocery stores, a store like Target or Walmart. Aren't they so pretty!

This easy trifle recipe makes a beautiful centrpiece for your Easter dinner table.

If you're looking for more fun Easter recipes, you'll love these roundups:

15 Easter Desserts with Mini Eggs

11 Easter Desserts with Peeps

Why you'll love this recipe

It's so cute and adorable! I think I would hardly make it through my Easter brunch with this pretty dessert winking at me!
Quick and easy. Once this trifle is made, you can just pop it in the fridge and spend time with guests.
It doubles as a centerpiece for the table!

ingredients for Easter trifle

Easter vanilla trifle ingredients with text overlay.

Party Rainbow Chip cake mix - you can also use vanilla cake mix or lemon cake mix.
Vanilla Instant Pudding
Food Colouring
Milk
Easter egg Candies (Whoppers in photos)
Edible candy grass

How to make Easter trifle

Step 1 - Bake the cake according to package directions, with parchment paper inside the pan for easy removal.

Step 2 - After 10 minutes of the cake being out of the oven, remove it from the pan and place on a cooling rack.

Step 3 - Allow the cake to cool completely. Using a serrated knife, cut the cake into one-inch pieces.

Vanilla pudding in two bowls with whisk.

Blue pudding with vanilla pudding and drop of red food colouring.

Step 4 - Prepare the pudding according to package directions, keeping each package of pudding in a separate bowl.

Step 5 - Add a few drops of blue food coloring to one bowl, then add a few drops of pink food coloring to the other bowl. Be sure to only add a little at a time until you get the desired color.

Cake cubes are placed in the bottom of a trifle bowl.

Blue vanilla pudding is added on top of the cake cubes in trifle dish.

Step 6 - Tightly place one layer of cake cubes in the bottom of a trifle dish or large glass bowl (fit as much cake as you can to not have gaps).

Step 7 - Spoon one of the bowls of pudding over the top of the cake.

Step 8 - Now spoon in 2 cups of the whipped topping over the pudding.

Another layer of cake cubes is added onto the whipped cream layer.

Pink pudding is added on top of the cake layer.

Step 9 - Repeat with another layer of cake, the other color of pudding, then 2 more cups of the whipped topping.
Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Edible candy grass is held in hands and rolled into a nest shape.

Pink, blue and bright green candy grass nests with coloured candied eggs in the middle.

Make bird nests (2 of each color) from the edible candy grass. Do this by holding a half-inch thick group of grass and spin the grass tightly into a circle starting with one end.

Before serving, decorate the top of the trifle with 6 bird nests and add 3 candy eggs into each nest.

Store covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

my top tips

Fit as many cake pieces in a single layer so that there’s minimal gaps. This is so the pudding doesn’t seep through the cracks. You can break up the cake pieces to fill in tiny gaps between the cake pieces. You may have some cake leftover at the end which is just fine.
The cake will be easier to cut if you chill it first.
To get brighter colors, white chocolate pudding can be used instead of vanilla so that the food coloring is mixed with a white base instead of yellow.
Tightly roll the candy grass nests to get them to stay. Stray away strands can be tucked into the whipped topping to hold them in place.
Refrigerating for 4 hours allows the trifle to not fall apart as much when being dished out. As well as it tastes better when chilled.

Close up view of trifle on spoon with remaining trifle in background.

faq's

Can I make this ahead of time?

You can bake the cake one day in advance to assemble the final product more quickly.

What are substitutions that I can make?

Instead of prepared frozen whipped topping, make your own by combining 1 cup of heavy cream, ⅓ cup powdered sugar, plus 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Beat till stiff peaks form.

What can I add to this recipe?

Add a layer or two of crushed Golden Oreos or other cookies. Add food coloring to the whipped topping for more colored layers. Add sprinkles or berries to the layers.

Can I use other pudding flavours?

Of course! Yellow or white puddings work best in order to dye them different colors. Using banana, lemon, or white chocolate would work great for this.

You might also enjoy these recipes!