This beautiful fresh fruit Trifle is one of my favorite dessert for the Holidays! The wine cake layers blend perfectly with the vanilla yogurt, the rhum and the fresh fruit so that it tastes decadently delicious (the rhum-embued cake reminds me of a French “baba au rhum” and the vanilla yogurt becomes so thick you’d think it’s heavy cream!). It is absolutely spectacular as a centerpiece on a dessert buffet table or as individual elegant mini-trifles in a beautiful cocktail glass! It’s always a hit–never fails! This healthy yet delectable dessert is a perfect way to ‘trade-up’ without over-indulging, during the holidays–Pure cuisinicity style!

For these individual servings in cocktail glasses, you will need to adjust the quantity and way of arranging all the components of the trifle. For one, I use a cookie cutter, to form little circles of cake to fit the particular container. You’ll need to be creative and just “play” with how best to assemble it.
Fruit Trifle
Ingredients
- White Wine Cake: Makes two 9-inch layers
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 Tbsp vanilla
- ½ cup canola oil
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 2 ½ cups whole wheat pastry flour*
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 4 egg whites
- Rhum Glaze:
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup rum mount Gay
- Assembling the Trifle:
- 4-5 cups lowfat organic vanilla yogurt
- 3 cups sliced strawberries rinsed
- 4 kiwis peeled and sliced
- 2 pints blueberries rinsed
- 2 pints raspberries rinsed
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 and lightly "grease" two 9 inch pans with canola oil and line with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the egg, sugar, vanilla and oil and beat until smooth.
- Stir in the wine and mix again briefly.
- Add the pastry flour, baking powder and beat until well blended.
- In a separate bowl whip the egg whites until stiff.
- Gently fold the whites into the batter. Divide the batter between the 2 pans.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
- Let cool completely before unmolding and peel off the parchment paper, when ready to assemble.
- While the cakes are cooling off, combine 1/3 cup of sugar with ¾ cup water in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil until the sugar dissolves, then let simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in ½ cup rum and let cool.
- When ready to assemble, place a layer of vanilla yogurt at the bottom of the trifle bowl, then gently place one cake on top.
- Drizzle half of the rhum glaze over it and let it absorb for a minute.
- Arrange the fresh fruit (one layer of the same fruit at a time) around the cake. *There should be a little space between the cake and the side of the bowl (see photo) so that the fruit is displayed neatly all around against the glass of the bow not on top of the cake.
- Then spread another layer of vanilla yogurt on top of the first cake and place the second cake on top of the yogurt.
- Drizzle the remaining rhum glaze over the cake, let it absorb for a minute.
- Arrange another layer of fruit around the cake as you did before, alternating with each fruit.--see photo
- Finish with a layer of vanilla yogurt and place remaining fruit on top, arranged however you'd like so that it is beautifully displayed.
- Chill for several hours or overnight in the fridge (you'll need to allocate a tall space in the fridge for it!) so that all the flavors blend together and serve.
This has been a hit with my family – such a beautiful display!
YES!!! THAT’S WONDERFUL Cora!! I LOVE IT! 🙂
I found a bowl at Kohl’s that would be perfect for this! I might try with bourbon as I love that flavor – might work, no? 🙂
These look glorious. They deserve an Oscar!
Thank you thank you!!!
Hi Catherine, I’m vegeterian, what can I use instead of rum and white wine in this recipe?
Thanks
Mahnaz
Hi Mahnaz, I am not aware that there is any issue with rum at all. It’s even considered vegan, as far as I know: https://www.barnivore.com/products/6018-mount-gay-rum. As for wine, I imagine you could try to replace it with orange juice? It’s hard for me know as neither is an issue for me. I hope this helpful!
Well I wasn’t sure what to bring to Thanksgiving dinner, but now I’ve got it! Thank you so much Catherine for your wonderfully tasty and healthful recipes.
You are most welcome Donna! Happy Thanksgiving!