Easy blackberry trifle recipe

Blackberry season is in full swing, which means you should enjoy them while you can. This blackberry trifle recipe is the perfect way to do just that. It’s incredibly easy to make, and the blackberries steal the show!

Why this recipe works

• Super easy – this is one of those desserts that is super easy to make, but looks like you spent a lot of time making it. Perfect for parties.
• Single serve – Serve every guest their own glass of blackberry trifle, how fun is that!

Recipe ingredients

• Mascarpone cream – this is one of the elements that give the blackberry trifle it’s richness. But you can also use another kind of cream cheese if you want.
• Heavy cream – I combine the mascarpone with just a little bit of sugar and some heavy cream whipped to soft peaks
• Fresh blackberries – I used about 24 blackberries but it depends on the size of the fruit.
• Cake – I used ready-made cake for an extra easy dessert, but you can of course bake your own. This delicious vanilla cake is perfect for this easy dessert, but any tasty pound cake will do.

Make sure to double check the recipe instructions and quantities needed in the recipe card below.

How to make the blackberry trifle

First, a tiny bit of background; the trifle is originally a very English dessert, and a trifle dish is always several layers of cake, custard, fruit and sometimes jam. It is usually presented in a trifle bowl. I chose to use single-serving portions, but you can make it in one larger bowl as well. Up to you.

Making it is simplicity itself. You take the bowl of a stand mixer (an electric mixer will work just as well) and add the heavy cream, sugar and mascarpone. Mix this together and then mix until the mixture has stiff peaks. Grate a bit of lemon zest through the mixture and your filling is done.

Building the trifle

Now the fun part is to build the trifle inside your serving glasses. I first make a single layer of the cake at the bottom of each glass.

This works easiest if you cut the cake into cubes. Another option is to use a round cookie cutter and cut out a piece of cake out of a cake slice the same size as the glass. You will have left over pieces of cake if you do this.

Now add half of the cream mixture and top with blackberries. Add more cake, more filling and finish with two blackberries on top.

Storing a blackberry trifle

Trifle is easy to prepare in advance, making it the perfect dessert for a large group. You can assemble the desserts and store them in the refrigerator for a few days, or prepare the different components ahead of time.

How long does a trifle keep?

Once assembled, these blackberry trifles can be stored in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. You can also choose to store the components separately and assemble the trifles just before serving.

The mascarpone cream can be stored in the refrigerator for two to three days, and a homemade vanilla cake can be stored for about week outside the refrigerator, well wrapped. With a store bought cake, check the packaging.

Can you freeze a trifle with blackberries?

I do not recommend freezing trifles with fresh fruit. Frozen fruit releases a lot of moisture when thawed, which makes the dessert very moist. And more important: it doesn’t look as pretty when freshly made.

However, you could freeze the mascarpone cream and cake separately and assemble the trifles with fresh blackberries. Another option is to replace the fresh blackberries with blackberry curd, which allows you to freeze the dessert more easily.