Fresh Strawberry Trifle

Quick, great tasting and pretty desserts are things I always try to make for special occasions. On holidays and special occasion days, when you usually don't have the time or the patience to make something nice and great tasting, I think about what I have in the house and how I can whip it in to something good.  I always have berries in the house, because the hubby loves them, and I also always have cream cheese in the fridge and frozen whipped topping in the freezer.  There are so many things you can make with these two ingredients.  I was trying to figure out a dessert for Easter, and I started thinking about what I had on hand to make something.  I could put the strawberries, cream cheese and cool whip together, but that would just be an OK, light, something fluffy thingy to eat.  Not my kind of dessert.  I wanted something a little heavier than that.  I thought cake in it would be good, and some lemon zest.  This is what I came up with and it was so good. Glad my brain kept thinking!  

Recipe Below 

In my trifle bowl and ready to eat.

 It looks pretty with toasted pound cake crumbs on top and a few scored strawberries for decoration.

Fresh Strawberry Trifle

Ingredients

1 store bought pound cake, cut into 1" cubes, save the crumbs

2 16 oz containers of fresh strawberries, washed, stems removed, reserve 2 w/stems for top

1/4 cup of regular sugar

3 tablespoons of water

2 8 oz packages of cream cheese

1 1/2 cups of confectioner's sugar

1 8 oz container of frozen whipped topping

1 whole lemon, zested

Directions
Toast the pound cake crumbs in a small frying pan, be careful not to burn them. Set aside.

Slice strawberries and place in a bowl.  Sprinkle the regular sugar over them and add the water.  Mix them up and set aside.

Beat cream cheese until no longer lumpy.  Add the confectioner's sugar and continue to beat until all is combined.  With a rubber spatula fold in the whipped topping, go easy so as not to deflate the air in the topping.  Add all but about 1/2 teaspoon of lemon zest (reserve for the top) to the cream cheese/topping mixture. Layer 1/3 of the cake in the bottom of the trifle bowl. Cover with 1/3 of the strawberries/juice. Cover strawberries with 1/3 of the cream cheese mixture.  Repeat layers ending with the cream cheese mixture on top.

Top the trifle with the toasted pound cake crumbs and scored reserved strawberries.  Sprinkle with lemon zest. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.  Refrigerate leftovers.