Pina Colada Trifle

Our Pina Colada Trifle is an easy-to-assemble dessert that layers light angel food cake with creamy coconut and vanilla pudding, and juicy pineapple. Perfect for parties, the fresh fruit flavors make this dessert a winner everytime!

Prep Time15

Chill Time2

Total Time2 15

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Pina Colada Trifle Recipe

Servings:

Calories: 289kcal

Ingredients

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut, divided (⅓ cup lightly toasted and ⅔ cup for trifle layers)
10 ounces 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 instant vanilla pudding
2 ½ cups whole milk
½ teaspoon rum extract
½ teaspoon coconut extract
8 ounces Cool Whip whipped topping, thawed and divided (4 ounces for pudding mixture and 4 ounces to pipe into decorative dollops on top for garnish)
13 to 15 ounces prepared angel food cake, cut into 1 to 1 ½ inch cubes
20 ounces 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 to 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.
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.
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 to 4 minutes or until the pudding starts to thicken.
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.
Layer half of the cubed angel food cake into the bottom of a large (approximately 3-quart capacity) trifle bowl.
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.
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 or up to overnight, or until the pudding layer has firmed up.

Notes

Before beginning, make sure your Cool Whip is fully thawed, and that your milk is very cold. You'll also need to drain your pineapple well, and slice your cake into small cubes.
Keep a close eye on the coconut, as it can go from toasted to burnt very quickly. Remove from the heat as soon as it starts turning golden.
Ensure all ingredients are well combined to avoid any lumps in your pudding.
Use a gentle folding motion to mix the whipped topping and pudding together rather than stirring to keep the mixture light and airy.
Use a large, serrated knife to cut your angel food cake into small pieces.

Nutrition