Fresh strawberries and angel food cake combine to create a delicious dessert for Mother's Day, family reunions, dinner parties, and everything in between!
Table of Contents
🗝️ Key takeaways
- A dash of sour cream prevents this dish from being too sweet, creating the perfect balance of flavors.
- This trifle bowl dessert is delicious all through the Spring and Summer. It's a fantastic easy sweet for Easter or Mother's Day.
- A dash of sour cream prevents this dish from being too sweet, creating the perfect balance of flavors.
Strawberry punch bowl cake is made of small pieces of angel food cake layered with fresh fruit and rich cream. It's a classic Southern dessert that starts appearing on tables around Easter.
Think of it like a strawberry trifle bowl!
I keep the recipe for this beautiful dessert on hand all year long! It comes in handy for those times when you need a decadent dessert in a pinch.
The best part is, that no one will know how easy it is to make.
🧾 Ingredients
Make sure you bake (or buy) your angel food cake ahead of time. Then, it's likely you'll already have everything else you'll need!
🔪 Instructions
This is an overview of the instructions. Full instructions are in the green recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Add a layer of cake pieces to the bottom of your punch bowl.
- Add the cream mixture to the top of the cake layer.
- Layer the sliced strawberries next.
- Repeat layers, cover, and refrigerate until serving time. To serve just use a big spoon that will pick up all the layers!
Some people prefer instant pudding over the sour cream mixture that I use. I like my version without pudding.
Pudding makes the cake too sweet while the lightly sweetened sour cream gives it a nice, tangy-sweet balance.
🥫 Storage
Strawberry punch bowl cake is best when it's had a chance to chill overnight. Cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge.
Leftovers will be fine for up to 3 days.
Keep in mind that the cake will continue to absorb moisture and by the end of that 3 days it may look a bit like cereal that's been sitting in the milk too long, if you know what I mean.
It is not suitable for freezing!
📖 Variations
There are about as many variations of punch bowl cakes as there are good cooks in the South!
You can vary every component of this recipe from the fruit to the filling, and it always tastes great.
- Use different fruit - Other berries, cherry pie filling, peaches, and crushed pineapple all work great for this recipe! Adjust your sugar accordingly.
- Use pound cake instead of angel food cake.
- You can also make the cake with a white or yellow cake mix and use that instead of the angel food.
- Try chocolate cake or brownies.
- Use instant pudding mix to make this punch bowl cake even easier!
- Softened vanilla ice cream can be used instead of the cream mixture -just place your dessert in the freezer up until 20 minutes before serving.
- Use homemade custard (like the kind that's on my old fashioned banana pudding) in place of the sour cream.
- Use all whipped topping instead of making your own cream.
- This is super cute made in mason jars for single servings!
You get the idea. This southern strawberry punch bowl cake recipe can handle any season, fruit, and variation you want to throw at it!
💭 Things to know
Expert Tip: Cut the angel food cake into equally-sized cubes. This will make layering, serving, and eating easier. It'll look prettier, too!
- Choose the best-looking berries for the garnish on top.
- Use ripe berries for a sweeter taste.
- This recipe is best served right away. However, if you're going to have to hold it overnight, add 1 tablespoon of instant vanilla pudding when you're whipping the cream. This will help it stabilize and prevent it from getting too watery.
- Use leftovers to create cute single-servings in sherbet bowls.
👩🍳 FAQs
Simply put, a punch bowl cake is a Southern-style dessert that is layered and served in a punch bowl. You may know it as a trifle.
Similar to a strawberry shortcake, this recipe is fairly sweet with a strong flavor of fresh strawberries and cream.
Yes, a punch bowl cake is a type of easy trifle. Like other desserts considered to be trifles, it is made with layers of cake, fruit, and a pudding-like cream.
📚 Related recipes
Here are some more strawberry cake recipes I love!
- Strawberry Angel Food Cake is a sweet cake stuffed with fresh strawberries for a perfect spring dessert.
- Strawberry Sheet Cake is topped with a cream cheese frosting and comes out moist every time!
- Strawberry Pound Cake Recipe is dense, moist, and velvety, making it perfect for wedding cakes, bundt cakes, cupcakes, and everything in between.
- This gorgeous strawberry crunch ice cream cake has layers of vanilla and strawberry ice cream, topped with Cool Whip then crunchy strawberry cookie sprinkles added to the top (and as a crust). You've got to see it to believe it - and it's SO eays.
- If you want something a little different you're bound to find something to love in this collection of cheesecake recipes!
🥄 Restless Chipotle recommends
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You'll need the following items to make this recipe successfully.
If you don't happen to have a gorgeous crystal punch bowl that's been handed down for generations you can use a trifle bowl. I love this trifle bowl by Anchor Hocking because it has a lid that goes with it - very handy for leftovers!
📞 The last word
We love this sweet dessert. It's light but also decadent and full of that fresh strawberry flavor. It's so pretty for Easter, Mother's Day, or really any spring celebration.
Next time try the strawberry pavlova and check out these great fresh strawberry recipes.
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need. Don't forget that you can click on "add to collection" to save it to your own, private recipe box!
If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖 Recipe
Strawberry Punch Bowl Cake
Print Pin Recipe Save Recipe Rate RecipeIngredients
- 2 pints strawberries, about 2 cups chopped and save the rest for garnish.
- ¼ cup granulated sugar, use less if the berries are very ripe and sweet
- 1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream
- ⅓ cup Confectioner's sugar
- 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 angel food cake, , cut into cubes
- whole strawberries for garnish
Instructions
- Sprinkle the granulated sugar on the chopped berries and let them stand for 30 minutes.
- In a medium bowl beat the heavy cream and Confectioner's sugar until soft peaks form.
- Fold in the vanilla and sour cream until well blended.
- Set aside.
- Place ⅓ of the angel food cake pieces in the bottom of a large punch bowl, a large bowl, or a trifle dish.
- Sprinkle strawberry juice over the top - just a little.
- Spoon on ⅓ of the whipped cream mixture, about ⅔ of a cup.
- Spoon on half the chopped berry mixture.
- Add ⅓ of the angel food cake to the top, sprinkle with strawberry juice, spoon on ⅓ of the cream mixture, and top with the remaining strawberries.
- Add the rest of the angel food cake, the remaining cream, and arrange whole berries around the top.
- Refrigerate until serving time.
Notes
- Choose the best-looking berries for the garnish on top.
- Use ripe berries for a sweeter taste.
- This recipe is best served right away. However, if you're going to have to hold it overnight, add 1 tablespoon of instant vanilla pudding when you're whipping the cream. This will help it stabilize and prevent it from getting too watery.
- Use leftovers to create cute single-servings in sherbet bowls.
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition information is estimated as a courtesy. If using for medical purposes, please verify information using your own nutritional calculator. Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
This recipe has been tested several times. If you choose to use other ingredients, or change the technique in some way, the results may not be the same.
First published January 30, 2018. Last updated for editorial content August 17, 2023.
Ginger says
I'm so glad someone else makes trifle in a punch bowl! I love your story!
Kathy says
I love your story and your little choir boys next to the punch bowl. We had those too...don't know what ever became of them though. Brings back sweet memories of home? Definitely trying this dessert, looks so yummy. Thanks for sharing your stories with us too!
Marye Audet says
Thanks Kathy! It's so easy, too!
Marisa Franca @ All Our Way says
It's funny the memories we retain. Mine also includes an elderly grandmother visiting our house, lots of wine, and finding her asleep in the backyard. I guess she had too much of the liquid fruit. 🙂 I like your punch bowl plus the story. I haven't made a trifle in years. Think it's about time.
Marye Audet says
LOL!!! That's great Marisa.