Red, White, and Blueberry Trifle

Red, White, and Blueberry Trifle

Independence Day may just be my favorite holiday. Summer is on full-blast, and the holiday is the perfect opportunity for friends and family to gather by the pool with casual food to celebrate this great nation and all the sacrifices that have been made to make us who we are.

My family typically has a big bash on the Fourth but this year we did it our way. This was my second opportunity to participate in a Fourth of July parade and I must say it makes for great memories. The weather did not cooperate with the holiday's festivities as it rained most of the weekend. However, unlike our usual near-triple-digits Fourths, during the parade it was a misty 750!

But back to the food. I could not stop myself from buying a trifle dish several years ago. After I did, I immediately had a sense of regret and worried that I would never use the dish. Let me tell you, I was wrong. Trifles are so easy, are beautiful and casual at the same time, and my guests love them. Plus, it's a great way to highlight fresh fruit. When I was asked to bring a dessert at Easter, I quickly whipped up one of these and dubbed it "Strawberry Shortcake Trifle."

Trifle

Ingredients:

1 large (16oz.) Sara Lee Poundcake

1 can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed milk

8 oz. 1/3-less-fat cream cheese

12 oz. coolwhip light, thawed

6 cups berries (slice strawberries in half)

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Instructions:

Hull and halve strawberries (I keep the blueberries separate for the look). Add sugar and lemon juice to the strawberries. Allow to macerate for an hour or longer.

In a large bowl, beat softened cream cheese with hand-held mixer. Mix in sweetened condensed milk. Fold in thawed coolwhip.

Cut poundcake into 1/3-1/2" thick slices. Layer the bottom with poundcake. Top with 1/3 of the berries*, 1/3 filling mixture. Repeat layers twice more (three layers total), ending with filling. Decorate top with remaining berries.

Note: It takes more time, but to receive the effect as in the red white and blueberry trifle, I carefully lined the side of the trifle with strawberry halves on the strawberry row. I then had a blueberry layer, followed by another strawberry layer. Play around with it and see what looks good. However, if you are short on time, a thrown-together Strawberry Shortcake trifle tastes just as good.