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Strawberry Lemon Pound Cake Trifles

Strawberry Lemon Pound Cake Trifles. This is the dessert that prompted me to make my Triple Citrus Pound Cake.

Strawberry Lemon Pound Cake Trifles. Triple citrus pound cake is layered with a no bake lemon curd cheesecake filling, fresh strawberries and whipped cream!

Let’s start at the beginning. Remember a couple of weeks ago when I made Italian Cream Cake? The pretty one with the gorgeous lipstick colored calla lilies in the background? Yeah, that one.

For those of you who are consistently reading the long posts that I write, you’ll remember that I mentioned the Italian Cream Cake recipe left me with some extra yolks. I think I even mentioned what I was going to do with those yolks. Yep, make lemon curd.

But, then I had lemon curd to use. Not that it’s an issue for us to use up lemon curd in all the wonderful ways you can use it…but I wanted to use it for a post.

Strawberry Lemon Pound Cake Trifles. Triple citrus pound cake is layered with a no bake lemon curd cheesecake filling, fresh strawberries and whipped cream!

I had a bunch of ideas, but settled on making trifles. Okay. Great, got the curd. I planned to use it in the filling. Now I needed a cake to make the trifles.

I thought about making a sponge cake or an angel food cake, (the latter of which simply would have left me with even more egg yolks :/ ) So, I finally settled on pound cake.

I will confess, I almost bought a ready made pound cake for this recipe. And by the way, you’re welcome to do so. If you’ve read the pound cake post, I go through my thought process that lead me to developing a recipe for one.

Oh, and if you’re not sitting around with extra yolks on your hands and/or have no desire/time to make your own lemon curd (even though it’s really, really, really easy) then go ahead and buy a prepared jar of it. You can often find it in the jams and jelly section of the grocery store.

Strawberry Lemon Pound Cake Trifles. Triple citrus pound cake is layered with a no bake lemon curd cheesecake filling, fresh strawberries and whipped cream!

I took the curd and added cream cheese and whipped cream and some sugar. It came together as a cheesecakey pudding like lemony mixture. It needed to be fluid enough to layer, yet thick enough to have some body. It’s good stuff, on it’s own or in a trifle.

Of course, I’m going to tell you that your dessert will taste ever so much better if you make it from scratch. If it serves as an influence to you, I will also mention that the pound cake was the cake that kept on giving. We enjoyed it as is. It was delightful in this trifle…and…wait for it…I used the leftovers in yet another post! (staytuned)

Strawberry Lemon Pound Cake Trifles. Triple citrus pound cake is layered with a no bake lemon curd cheesecake filling, fresh strawberries and whipped cream!

I’m just saying that if you decide to make the pound cake, and you can’t use it up all at once…you’ll get two more treats out of it. #motivation

Alright, I’ll get off my soap box. For now. Strawberry Lemon Pound Cake Trifles. Strawberries? Check. Lemon? Check. Pound Cake? Check. Once you have all of your components, it’s simply a matter of assembly.

Strawberry Lemon Pound Cake Trifles. Triple citrus pound cake is layered with a no bake lemon curd cheesecake filling, fresh strawberries and whipped cream!

I cut four slices of pound cake into chunky cubes. I’d say they were about an inch, but it Does. Not. Matter. I mean, it matters a little bit. You want pieces of cake that will fit into your serving dishes and leave room for other layers to meander in and around the cubes. But this is not a measuring exercise. Just cut them up.

Strawberry Lemon Pound Cake Trifles. Triple citrus pound cake is layered with a no bake lemon curd cheesecake filling, fresh strawberries and whipped cream!

For the strawberries, I cut them into quarters. You can cut them however you’d like. I wanted them small enough so that they’d easily fit on a spoon, but large enough to still sort of look like a strawberry. I liked the look of the long quarters peeking out between the cake and filling mixture.

You have choices on the berries. I chose to use them freshly cut, as is. If you’d like juicier strawberries that have some liquid that will soak into your cake layer, just add some sugar to your cut berries. Let them sit for a bit while the strawberries release some of their juice. I just might do that next time.

Strawberry Lemon Pound Cake Trifles. Triple citrus pound cake is layered with a no bake lemon curd cheesecake filling, fresh strawberries and whipped cream!

Once you’ve got all of your components, it’s a simple assembly process. And, there are different strategies for layering a trifle, but here’s how I chose to do it…

I started with a cake layer, then added the berries. The berries were then topped with the lemony cream cheese mixture and then the layers repeat. Finally, I topped with a dollop of softly whipped cream and a strawberry.

I didn’t want to make one large trifle and I didn’t want a huge dessert, so I used wine glasses and made individual trifles. I loved the way a raised bowl brings the pretty layers closer to eye level.

Strawberry Lemon Pound Cake Trifles. Triple citrus pound cake is layered with a no bake lemon curd cheesecake filling, fresh strawberries and whipped cream!

Making individual trifles means there’s no big dessert commitment. And there’s less mess. My pet peeve with trifles, (especially with those sitting on a dessert buffet), is that they get messy really quickly. People take varied servings. Some dipping all the way to the bottom of the trifle bowl, some skimming from the top.

Very quickly the trifle loses it’s layered beauty and it’s just plain messy. Sure, it will still taste good. It’s not like a messy looking trifle ever stopped me from sampling it’s layers, but you get the point. (Oh, and all this talk about messiness will not prevent me from possibly posting a giant trifle in the future. Just so we’re clear ;)

Strawberry Lemon Pound Cake Trifles. Triple citrus pound cake is layered with a no bake lemon curd cheesecake filling, fresh strawberries and whipped cream!

The point is, you don’t have to make a trifle that serves a crowd. You can make as many or as few as you like when you go the individual route. That’s what’s so great about the individual serving size. Not only is it fun and fancy, but you don’t have to reserve trifles for holidays or parties. You can have one or two or four or whatever….whenever you want with no big leftover bowl of messiness.

This particular recipe makes four generous trifles. My family was happy to indulge, but the size was a little generous for me. I was quite satisfied with half the amount, so I think you could comfortably make eight smaller trifles, if you want a less indulgent size.

Strawberry Lemon Pound Cake Trifles. Triple citrus pound cake is layered with a no bake lemon curd cheesecake filling, fresh strawberries and whipped cream!

If you want to make them ahead, I would layer them up, cover them with some plastic wrap and then top them with whipped cream just before serving. Mine actually were stored after the whipped cream topping because I had shot them fully assembled, and they survived without issue. I just prefer to top them just before serving.

When all is said and done, you’ll have cubes of Triple Citrus Pound Cake, with all of it’s lemon, lime and orange flavors, topped with a fresh lemon curd cheesecake “pudding.” That quadruple punch of citrus is a perfect complement to the fresh sweet strawberries and the lightly sweetened whipped cream.

Whether you make the whole thing from scratch or not, you have to admit it’s one pretty little dessert.

Strawberry Lemon Pound Cake Trifles. Who knew a few yolks would take us down this long, sweet and windy path? Oh, right. I did.

Strawberry Lemon Pound Cake Trifles. Triple citrus pound cake is layered with a no bake lemon curd cheesecake filling, fresh strawberries and whipped cream!

Aren’t you glad you know me? ;)

Strawberry Lemon Poundcake Trifles. A triple citrus poundcake is layered with a no bake lemon curd cheesecake filling, fresh strawberries and whipped cream!

Strawberry Lemon Pound Cake Trifles

Yield: 4 individual trifles

Ingredients

For the filling:

  • 4 ounces block cream cheese cold
  • 6 Tablespoons sugar
  • 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1/2 cup prepared lemon curd purchased or prepared from this recipe - https://www.themerchantbaker.com/luscious-lemon-curd/
  • 2 heaping cups quartered fresh strawberries
  • 4 slices poundcake cubed, I used Triple Citrus Pound Cake - https://www.themerchantbaker.com/triple-citrus-pound-cake/

For the topping:

  • 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1 Tablespoon confectioner's sugar
  • Fresh strawberries

Instructions

  1. Make lemon filling. In a medium bowl beat cream cheese and sugar together until combined. While continuing to beat, slowly drizzle cream in and beat until fluffy.

  2. Add lemon curd and beat on low speed until combined.

  3. Make whipped cream. Beat cream until it begins to thicken. Add confectioner's sugar and beat until you have soft peaks.

  4. Dividing equally among individual serving dishes, layer poundcake, strawberries and lemon filling, then repeat layers once.

  5. Top with a dollop of whipped cream and a strawberry for garnish.

Notes

*This recipe makes 4 generous trifles. For me, 1/2 of one was enough, though my family thoroughly enjoyed their large serving. You could easily make 8 smaller serving trifles with the same amount of ingredients. Then, you might want to cut the cake into smaller cubes so you have more pieces to divide for the layers.

*I used homemade poundcake and lemon curd from scratch. You can buy both of these already prepared for a really easy short cut.

*If you like juicy strawberries to layer your trifle, you can toss them with some granulated sugar and let them sit in the refrigerator for a few hours. The sugar will break down the berries a little and release juice. You can even add a spoonful or two of water to the mixture to help it along. This might be a good option if your cake is on the drier side or if you simply like a juicier dessert.

*Another option, if you want more moisture for your cake, is to layer your trifle so that the cake is sandwiched between the lemon filling layers on both top and bottom.

*If you want to make ahead, I would layer the trifle except for the final whipped cream. Cover each dish and refrigerate until you're ready to serve. Then, I would freshly whip the cream and top with a strawberry. I actually stored mine fully made since I had already photographed them. The whipped cream held up nicely, but I prefer making whipped cream just before serving. Plus, it's easier to cover a glass that isn't so full. You don't want to ruin your pretty dollop of whipped cream now, do you?

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