Pina Colada Trifle

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Pina Colada Trifle tastes just as delicious as the beach-side beverage but it's served dessert-style instead. With layers of pineapple, coconut, cake, and pudding, it's the perfect size for feeding a large crowd.

Prep Time15

Chill Time2

Total Time2 15

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: (approximately 1 cup) servings

Calories: 303kcal

Author: Jennifer Fishkind

Ingredients

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut divided (⅓ cup lightly toasted, ⅔ cup for trifle layers)
10 ounces jar maraschino cherries juices drained and patted dry, divided (9 cherries left whole with stems attached for garnish, then remaining cherries roughly chopped after the stems have been removed)
5.1 ounces box instant vanilla pudding
2½ cups whole milk
½ teaspoon rum extract
½ teaspoon coconut extract
8 ounces container cool whip whipped topping thawed, divided (4 ounces for pudding mixture and 4 ounces to pipe into decorative dollops on top for garnish)
13-15 ounces prepared angel food cake cut into 1 - 1 ½ inch cubes
20 ounces can crushed pineapple juices drained

Instructions

To a small dry skillet, over medium heat, add ⅓ cup sweetened shredded coconut. Heat, and lightly toast, the coconut for 2-3 minutes or just until some of the coconut is starting to get a lightly golden color. Be sure to stir around often as you do not want the coconut to burn. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool while preparing the remainder of the recipe.
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
Pour off all the juices from the jar of maraschino cherries and place the cherries onto a paper towel lined plate. Gently pat the cherries dry with a second piece of paper towel. Set aside 9 of the prettiest stemmed maraschino cherries to a separate plate. You will use these as the garnish for the trifle.
10 ounces jar maraschino cherries
Remove the stems from the remaining cherries and roughly chop them. You will use these to add to the layers of the pina colada trifle. Set aside.
To a large mixing bowl add the instant vanilla pudding, whole milk, rum extract and coconut extract. Whisk by hand for 3 - 4 minutes or until the pudding starts to thicken.
5.1 ounces box instant vanilla pudding, 2½ cups whole milk, ½ teaspoon rum extract, ½ teaspoon coconut extract
Fold 4 ounces of the thawed cool whip whipped topping into the pudding mixture until fully combined and no white streaks remain from the cool whip. Set aside.
8 ounces container cool whip whipped topping
Layer half of the cubed angel food cake into the bottom of a large (approximately 3 quart capacity) trifle bowl.
13-15 ounces prepared angel food cake
Top half (approximately ½ cup) of the drained crushed pineapple evenly over the first layer of angel food cake in the trifle bowl. Top that with ⅓ of the sweetened shredded coconut, that has not been toasted, evenly over the pineapple layer. Followed by half the chopped maraschino cherries sprinkled evenly over the coconut. Be sure to get some of the cherry pieces along the edge of the bowl so that they show up in the layers when looking at the trifle from the outside of the bowl.
20 ounces can crushed pineapple
Top these layers with half of the pudding mixture. Using a rubber spatula, or offset spatula, spread the pudding into an even layer.
Repeat steps 6 - 8 with the remaining angel food cake, crushed pineapple, sweetened shredded coconut (that was not toasted), chopped maraschino cherries and pudding mixture.
To the top of the second pudding layer, sprinkle with the toasted coconut.
Add the remaining 4 ounces of cool whip whipped topping to a large piping bag, or plastic zip top bag with a corner snipped off, fitted with a large piping tip. Pipe a single dollop of cool whip into the center of the toasted coconut, followed by 8 dollops around the outer edge of the trifle dish.
Top each of the cool whip dollops with a single stemmed maraschino cherry.
Refrigerate the pina colada trifle for 2 hours, up to overnight, or until the pudding layer has firmed up.

Notes

Storage:

To Store: This Pina Colada trifle can be refrigerated and lightly covered with plastic wrap for up to 3 days. Be mindful that the longer the trifle sets, the softer the angel food cake will become due to the moisture from the fruit and pudding in the layers.
To Freeze: This is not a dessert suited for freezing. It is best to make and serve the same day.
To Make Ahead: You can make this ahead of time and chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Tips:

When cutting your angel food cake, I suggest using a sharp serrated bread knife as it cuts through the delicate texture of the angel food cake with ease and without tearing up the cake too much when cutting. Be sure the cake cubes are uniform in size and tightly fitted to form a sturdy base for your trifle.
You can find a premade angel food cake in the bakery section of your local grocery stores (typically between 13oz. - 15 ounces). Alternatively, you can bake a cake from a boxed cake mix or from scratch if you have a recipe you love. You will need to allow extra time to make the cake and let it cool.
For convenience, I used all store-bought ingredients from a package or a can. Feel free to make your own homemade layered parts if you prefer.
When adding each layer to your trifle bowl, be careful around the outer edges to keep the cake, fruit, pudding, and whipped cream layers nice and neat. This will ensure that you have a beautiful layered presentation when you are looking at the outside of the bowl.
My trifle bowl was 3.25 quarts or 104 ounces. You may end up with extra cake cubes, depending on the size of your trifle bowl.
The flavor and texture of toasted coconut works beautifully as a topping for this trifle. You do not have to toast any of the coconut, or, alternatively, you can lightly toast all (1 cup) of it! Then just divide it into ⅓ portions when adding to the layers of the Pina colada trifle.

Nutrition