Mini Berry Trifles

It is officially summer time which means that I am looking for any excuse to bake with all of the fresh summer fruit. These Mini Berry Trifles combine luscious vanilla cake, fluffy whipped cream, and all of your favorite summer berries into one beautiful looking dessert that's easy to make and enjoy all summer long.

These trifles may look extra fancy, but they're really easy to make. You'll bake a small vanilla cake and cut it up into bite sized pieces, make some fresh whipped cream, and then layer it together with your favorite berries.

I chose strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries, but any combination is delicious and will make a beautiful dessert!

A FEW NOTES BEFORE WE GET STARTED

• Room Temperature Ingredients:
  • Butter: It’s important that the butter is softened. In a pinch, you can put your butter in the microwave for about 5 seconds on each side, but watch closely to make sure it is just softening and not melting.
  • Egg: You also want to make sure that the egg is at room temperature to ensure that it is properly incorporated into your batter. If you forget to leave it out before you start baking, place it in a bowl of warm water for about 15 minutes until it becomes room temperature.

• Measuring Your Ingredients: I strongly encourage that you use a kitchen scale to measure your ingredients and ensure that you have the most accurate measurements possible.
  • However, if you don’t have a scale on hand and will be using cup measurements, make sure to use the “spoon and sweep” method when measuring to avoid packing in too much of any dry ingredient.

• Oven Temperature: Make sure to preheat your oven for at least 15 minutes before you start baking.
  • I recommend purchasing an oven thermometer to get to know your oven so you can adjust your baking temperatures accordingly. Some ovens run slightly warmer or colder so its important to know yours to make sure your baked goods come out right.

• Check out My Favorite Baking Tools to see what I use when I bake.

Once you're ready to get started, preheat your oven to 325º F and grab a five inch cake pan. If you don't have one, you can use a round ramekin or baking dish, but you'll have to adjust the baking time slightly if it's smaller or larger than 5 inches.

Use a handheld mixer on medium speed to cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until it is light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula before adding in the egg and vanilla and mixing until combined. Next add in the flour, baking powder, and salt, followed by the milk. Mix on low just until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Coat a five inch cake pan with cooking spray or butter and flour. Carefully pour the batter into the pan. Bake for 34-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool for 10-15 minutes on a cooling rack before gently running a knife along the edge of each pan, topping the cake with another cooling rack and turning the cake out. You'll need to let the cake cool completely.

Once the cake has cooled, you can get started on that delicious whipped cream. Combine the heavy cream and sugar in a medium sized bowl. Mix on medium-high with a handheld or stand mixer until somewhat stiff peaks have formed.

Using a sharp serrated knife, carefully cut off the dome of the cake so that it is level. With your hand on top of the cake, gently cut the cake into two even layers. Use the same knife to gently cut off the caramelized bottom, being careful not to cut into the cake. Cut the cake into 7 slices. Turn the cake and cut into 7 more slices again.

We'll be making four trifles that are layered with cake, fresh fruit, whipped cream, and then more fresh fruit so you'll want to divide the cake pieces into quarters. I used these trifle dishes, but any small trifle dish or glass bowl will work!

Fill the bottom of the trifle dish with about a quarter of the cake pieces so that it is somewhat packed. Top the cake with berries, making sure to place berries along the inside of the glass since that's what you'll see from the side view. You can alternate different types of berries along the side to showcase all of the different kinds you're using.

Next top the berries with a dollop of whipped cream so that it is level with the top of the trifle dish. The whipped cream should be supported by the berries so that you see clear defined layers on the sides of the dish. Now you're ready to top the whipped cream off with more berries. You'll then repeat this same process with the three other trifles until you have four beautiful desserts!

The trifles can be kept in the fridge until they're ready to be served, but are best when eaten immediately. You can store any leftover trifles with plastic wrap for up to one day, but the whipped cream will lose some fluffiness the longer it sits in the fridge.

If you're looking to make these in advance, you can bake the cake a day in advance and wrap it in plastic wrap once it is cooled. Leave it at room temperature until you make the whipped cream and are ready to assemble the trifles.