Patriotic Punch Bowl Cake
With layers of fluffy cake, vanilla pudding, whipped topping, and fresh blueberries and strawberries, this delicious patriotic punch bowl cake recipe is simultaneously light, creamy, and sweet. The beloved trifle is destined to become a regular recipe for your 4th of July gathering.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Patriotic Punch Bowl Cake
- Main Ingredients: box angel food cake, packet instant vanilla pudding mix*, milk of your choice, carton whipped topping, fresh strawberries, washed and hulled, fresh blueberries, rinsed
- Why You'll Love It: With layers of fluffy cake, fresh fruit, creamy pudding, and whipped cream, enjoy this delicious patriotic punch bowl cake this 4th of July.
Sweet Without The Sugar
I have a sweet tooth big enough to take over my entire mouth, but I can’t eat sugar (at least not in anything other than small quantities). So I adjust a lot of dessert recipes to make them lighter or sugar-free altogether. This patriotic punch bowl cake is one recipe that works really well and is every bit as decadent and refreshing, whether you make a regular or lighter version.
A popular Southern dessert, we serve it a lot at our family get-togethers in the summer, and my husband always chooses it as his top pick for his February birthday as well. It would be the perfect addition to your Fourth of July or other summer celebration!
Also known as a trifle, this punch bowl cake recipe features multiple delicious layers. You’ve got fluffy angel food cake, creamy vanilla pudding, and refreshing whipped topping. The fresh and tart blueberries and strawberries give the trifle a blue and red patriotic vibe, but you can use whatever fruit you like. For example, I have a plain strawberry punch bowl cake recipe on the blog as well.
Altogether, this punch bowl cake is light, creamy, sweet, and delicious. I just know it’s going to be a hit at your next summer gathering. Enjoy!
Ingredients For Patriotic Punch Bowl Cake
- Angel food cake (from boxed cake mix)
- Vanilla pudding mix (you can use sugar-free vanilla pudding mix).
- Light or regular whipped topping
- Milk (any kind of milk, like almond milk, whole milk, 2%, or skim milk).
- Blueberries
- Strawberries
Expert Tips From My Kitchen
- Substitute the angel food cake for yellow cake mix, white cake mix, or even a homemade pound cake.
- You can do the same with the pudding: swap it for cheesecake, white chocolate, or lemon pudding.
- If you’re not going for a red, white, and blue theme, you can use any kind of fresh fruit or canned fruit you like (or thawed frozen fruit in a pinch). This might be crushed pineapple, fresh raspberries, banana slices, fresh blackberries, or even cherry pie filling.
- Besides a fresh berry garnish, you can also garnish your trifle with toasted coconut flakes or chopped walnuts/chopped pecans for added flavor and texture.
- For a chocolate punch bowl cake, opt for a chocolate cake mix and fudge pudding. This would taste so delicious with the strawberries!
“This is the ultimate Independence Day dessert!”
“I may have to make it in addition to another yummy dessert recipe!” – Gayle
How to Make My Patriotic Punch Bowl Cake
1. Trim and Cut Your Cake
Slice all of the brown outer layer off of your angel food cake. Then, cut the cake into cubes. You can just tear it also if you want to.
I was gonna call it “crust,” but that kind of implies that it is hard and crusty, which it isn’t, of course! In fact, this brown part is the part you are supposed to eat while you make the rest of the cake because it’s so good and you really need to keep your energy up! No sense in wasting it anyhow.
2. Prepare Your Pudding
Place your milk in a small mixing bowl. Add your pudding mix and mix until well blended.
Once it’s blended, dump in your whipped topping. Mix that up until well blended and all prettified.
3. Mix Your Cake Base, Pudding, and Blueberries
Place 1/2 of your cake pieces in the bottom of your punch bowl and spread 1/3 of your pudding mixture over the top.
Put every blessed blueberry you got on top of that! Then, top with the remainder of your cake pieces and 1/3 more of your pudding mixture.
4. Layer Your Cake and Add The Toppings
Wash your strawberries and slice them. Now you’re going to take those strawberries and put them on top of your angel food cake pieces, just like we did the blueberries. Place strawberries over the second layer of the pudding mixture and cover with the remaining pudding mixture.
If you want, you can decorate the top with more berries. Cover and refrigerate for several hours or until ready to serve. This is great if made the night before, too!
Patriotic Punch Bowl Cake FAQs
A classic boxed yellow or white cake is the best all-around choice. It has a neutral flavor and holds up well to the heavy layers of fruit and pudding. If you want a sturdier, richer option that won’t get soggy, use pound cake. For a lighter, cloud-like texture, go with angel food cake.
Punch bowl cake is best eaten within 2 to 3 days when kept covered in the fridge.
It actually tastes amazing on day two because the cake has had time to soak up all the delicious flavors from the pudding and fruit. Just keep in mind that by day three or four, the cake will start getting pretty soggy, and the whipped cream can begin to separate.
You’ll most often hear it called a Trifle (or a Southern Trifle).
Because the two desserts are made the exact same way (layering cake, custard or pudding, fruit, and whipped cream in a glass dish), the names are pretty much interchangeable. Depending on where you are or the specific recipe you’re using, you might also hear it called a Bowl Cake, a Layered Cake Dessert, or sometimes a Heavenly Dessert.
Similar Recipes
If you want an array of red, white, and blue treats for your holiday spread and want to skip the baking this year, give my patriotic jello jars and no-bake patriotic cereal treats a go!
Once you’ve finished setting up your batch of these easy patriotic recipes for the 4th of July, please leave a star rating and a review in the comments below to let me know how they turned out!
Ingredients
- 1 box angel food cake baked according to package directions
- 1 packet instant vanilla pudding mix* 3.5-ounce
- 2 cups milk of your choice
- 1 carton whipped topping 8-ounce
- 1 pint fresh strawberries, washed and hulled
- 2 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed
Instructions
- Trim the brown outer layer from the cake and then tear the cake into small pieces.
- Prepare pudding as directed and then mix in the Cool Whip.
- Place 1/2 of the cake pieces in a punch bowl. Top with 1/3 of the pudding mixture and all of the blueberries. Top with the remaining cake pieces, 1/3 of the pudding mixture, and all of the strawberries. Finish with the remaining pudding mixture and garnish with additional berries if you like.
- Cover and refrigerate for several hours.
Hi Christy, I have made the Punch Bowl cake before using bought Sara Lee pound cake and cut slices to fit a trifle dish, next mix large box of instant vanilla puddin and layer 1/2 on top of cake. Then slice banana on top of puddin. I thinly slice a banana and stick it to the sides of dish (so it will be pretty) and add sliced sugared sweetened strawberries on top of bananas and top with cool whip. I divide everything and make 2 layers in trifle dish and on top of the coolwhip I slice two whole strawberries and place on top to look pretty. My whole family loves this. It should be keep in the refrigirator overnight so the flavors will blend together…UUmmmm good.
I make an almost identical recipe in a trifle bowl. It is a beautiful presentation even though I leave the “crust” on the angel food cake! The main thing I do differently is to mix the strawberries and blueberries together with two tablespoons of amaretto (or almond flavoring, depending on the crowd) and then spread the berry mixture, half for each layer. The almond flavor really puts it over the top! This cake is best if eaten 12-24 hours after preparation.
I am loving all the low sugar,no sugar recipes…..with Hypoglycemia issues its hard to always stay away from dessert! 🙂 Now I don’t have to!!
Could real whipped cream be used in place of cool whip?
I helped my 13 year old granddaughter and her friend make this over the holiday, and it was great! They enjoyed making it, and we all enjoyed eating it!
Thank you! I love your site and look forward to the next dishes!
Happy “after the 4th” Christy. Southern Plate looks better than ever, if that is possible for a blog that was already outstanding or “out standing in your field” as the old joke goes.
Our 4th of July in St. Louis was perfect – extremely hot and humid, but family, friends, and BBQ were delicious. Your version of this recipe is beautiful. Our winter version is angel food or pound cake cubes, chocolate pudding mixed with an 8 oz. cream cheese, cherry pie filling and Cool Whip – layed up just like yours. Can’t beat fresh blueberries and strawberries though….yum yum.
I made 2 bowls of this..the first one I forgot the cool whip..duh 🙂
so the second I put red food color in part of the cool whip and blue in the other part but I also got smart and left some for the top that I could call white…NO one bowl of this was left at the end of 4th of July party….
Thanks Christy again 🙂
ps I love the new look..the print button is Great…