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Easy Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifle

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This Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifle is made by layering store bought angel food cake in a mason jar with pumpkin cheesecake filling and topping it off with whipped topping and pecans. The pumpkin trifle is a seasonal dessert that is both elegant and easy, nice enough for Thanksgiving or Christmas, yet easy enough to make for a family dinner.

Pumpkin is one of the most iconic of all all the fall flavors. It seems that in the fall you can’t avoid pumpkin in anything – whether it is pumpkin cake, pumpkin ice cream, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin loaf cake, or even pumpkin chili. This recipe is for yet another pumpkin dessert – one that is simple to make and yet elegant enough to deserve a place at the Thanksgiving table.

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Trifles are one of my favorite holiday desserts because they are so quick and easy to make, but look impressive. At its most basic a trifle is just layers of cake, fruit, custard and whipped cream, but you can have almost an infinite number of variations and layer whatever ingredients you love most with cake and whipped cream.

This trifle uses pumpkin instead of fruit, which makes it the ideal fall dessert. The Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifle can be made in less than 30 minutes and be eaten immediately or made ahead and saved in the refrigerator for a few days.

Pumpkin Trifle - alternating layers of pumpkin cheesecake filling mixture and Angel food cake

Making the Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifle

To make the pumpkin cheesecake trifle extra easy I used store bought angel food cake as a base. I took the cake out of the package and diced it up into cubes, which were about 1/2″ to 3/4″ long.

A sour cream pound cake or spice cake would also work as the base for this pumpkin trifle, but I like angel food cake because of its soft and airy texture.

Making the Pumpkin Cheesecake trifle

Then I made a simple no-bake pumpkin cheesecake filling by mixing softened cream cheese with pumpkin, sugar, pumpkin pie spice and whipped topping.  The pumpkin and the pumpkin pie spice give the dessert its seasonal flavor and the cream cheese and whipped topping make it creamy.

Together they make a creamy and cheesy filling with a delicious pumpkin flavor. Make sure you use real pumpkin, not pumpkin pie filling for the cheesecake filling. After the filling is made the cubes of cake are layered into mason jars alternately with the pumpkin cheesecake mixture.

Layering the trifle ingredients in mason jars

Alternatives for trifle dishes

You could make this recipe in almost anything from a large trifle dish to shot glasses, but I like pint sized mason jars because they are the perfect size for a single serving.

A large trifle dish would be excellent for taking to a potluck, and shot glasses would be ideal for a dessert bar with lots of variety, but for a quick and easy family dessert mason jars are just the right size. Also I’d have to clear off a shelf in the refrigerator to fit a large trifle bowl in, but mason jars can be tucked in around everything that is already there.

Two alternating layers of cake and pumpkin cheesecake filling are enough to fill up the mason jars. Then the pumpkin cheesecake trifle dessert is topped off with a dollop of whipped topping, sprinkled with cinnamon and finished with chopped pecans.

This Pumpkin Trifle is made by layering store bought angel food cake in a mason jar with pumpkin cheesecake filling and topping it off with whipped topping and pecans. The pumpkin trifle is a seasonal dessert that is both elegant and easy, nice enough for Thanksgiving or Christmas, yet easy enough to make for a family dinner. #pumpkin #trifle #thanksgiving #dessert

Elegant Thanksgiving Dessert

This seasonal pumpkin dessert is pretty enough for a party or Thanksgiving dinner, but also easy enough to make on Sunday afternoon as a family treat. It is also easy to prepare the angel food cake and pumpkin cheesecake filling in advance and put the dessert together right before serving.

This pumpkin cheesecake trifle is a great dessert to have kids help make, since it is quick and easy and they will enjoy layering all the ingredients to make this creamy treat.

Pumpkin Trifle made with angel food cake and pumpkin cheesecake filling seen from the top
 
Two mason jars with Pumpkin trifle for Thanksgiving

Recipe Tips

  • You can use real whipped cream in the dessert instead of whipped topping. If you use whipped cream the dessert will still be delicious, but it won’t keep as well, and should be eaten within a few hours.
  • This recipe uses only about half of the angel food cake, at least the size cake my grocery store sells. I usually freeze the other half and save it to use in another trifle another day. But you could also double the recipe and make 8 mini trifles.
  • If you are planning to use a large trifle dish for the dessert double the recipe.
  • Use my easy pumpkin pie spice recipe to make your own spice mix!
This Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifle is made by layering store bought angel food cake in a mason jar with pumpkin cheesecake filling and topping it off with whipped topping and pecans. The pumpkin trifle is a seasonal dessert that is both elegant and easy, nice enough for Thanksgiving or Christmas, yet easy enough to make for a family dinner. #pumpkin #trifle #thanksgiving #dessert

Find more trifle recipes

4.89 from 9 votes

Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifle

Published By Anne
Prep Time15 minutes
Total Time15 minutes
Servings: 4
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Ingredients
 

  • 1/2 Angel Food Cake
  • 4 oz cream cheese
  • 1/2 cup pumpkin
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 cup whipped topping
  • 4 Tablespoons whipped topping
  • cinnamon
  • 4 Tablespoons pecans

Instructions

  • Cut the Angel Food Cake into pieces about 1/2 inch thick.
  • In a mixer combine the cream cheese, pumpkin, sugar and pumpkin pie spice until well mixed.
  • Fold in the whipped topping and stir gently to combine for a pumpkin cheesecake mixture.
  • Add cake pieces to the bottom of the mason jar. Top the cake with a layer of pumpkin cheesecake mix. Add another layer of cake pieces and another layer of pumpkin cheesecake.
  • Top each mason jar with some more whipped topping. Then sprinkle with cinnamon and pecans.
  • Refrigerate until it is time to serve.

Video

Notes

Nutrition facts are estimates.
If you don’t have pumpkin pie spice substitute cinnamon, or use my easy pumpkin pie spice recipe to make your own.

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Nutrition Information

Calories: 378kcal | Carbohydrates: 71g | Protein: 8g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 31mg | Sodium: 542mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 45g

Nutrition facts are estimates.

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This Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifle is made by layering store bought angel food cake in a mason jar with pumpkin cheesecake filling and topping it off with whipped topping and pecans. The pumpkin trifle is a seasonal dessert that is both elegant and easy, nice enough for Thanksgiving or Christmas, yet easy enough to make for a family dinner. #pumpkin #trifle #thanksgiving #dessert
This Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifle is made by layering store bought angel food cake in a mason jar with pumpkin cheesecake filling and topping it off with whipped topping and pecans. The pumpkin trifle is a seasonal dessert that is both elegant and easy, nice enough for Thanksgiving or Christmas, yet easy enough to make for a family dinner. #pumpkin #trifle #thanksgiving #dessert

anne

Hi, I’m Anne!

I love to cook and I want to share my recipes with you. I believe cooking should be approachable and fun, not a chore. I want to make simple recipes using everyday ingredients that you can make again and again, whether it is for a busy weeknight, a summer cookout or a special dessert. Read more...

1 thought on “Easy Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifle”

  1. I will have to try this soon, it looks and sounds so delicious. I love pumpkin stuff but do not like to turn the oven on when it is warm, so usually we eat it most in the fall. I love that you don’t bake this 🙂 I can have this for dessert before the cooler weather comes in again!

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