Delicious, Red Velvet Trifle with Mascarpone Whipped Topping, and candied pecans will impress a crowd, but it’s so easy to throw together. This red velvet cake trifle is the perfect party dessert!
The ship has hit some rough waters at our house lately. You may already know from my Gigantic Little Debbie’s Oatmeal Cream Pie Cake post, we are in the thick of a house addition project. It was much more exciting when they were OUTSIDE my house framing. Now that they are INSIDE, up in my grill everyday. I’m ready for this party to be over.
Actually, it’s not so much the all-up-in-my-grill part that bothers me. The daily dust storm aftermath in my house is getting a little old. Plus my husband and I only speak of toilets and cabinet hardware anymore. Stop me if you’ve heard this, but extensive home renovation projects can be a teensy bit trying.
Why does this matter to you? Because apparently when house addition chaos redlines, I make a ridiculous dessert to help me deal. Healthy coping tactics, I know.
RED VELVET TRIFLE WITH MASCARPONE WHIPPED TOPPING
As if I needed more stress, this Red Velvet Trifle with Mascarpone Whipped Topping wasn’t my original game plan. I really wanted to make the mother of all Red Velvet Cakes, so I escaped reality a little too long researching all the best tips and techniques on the internet. That’s what I wanted to happen…
You know when you are baking something, and you a little voice tells you, Hmmm. That doesn’t seem right…But you go for it anyway and hope your instincts are wrong? How often does that work out in your favor? Yeah, I struggle with that too.
As I was making this delicious mascarpone whipped cream frosting it seemed a bit on the runny side, but I desperately wanted to press on with my MOTHER OF ALL RED VELVET CAKES. Fortunately, a divine moment of clarity washed over me and I saw my immediate future playing out in one of the following ways:
A) Being dramatically frustrated the cake looked like crap and throwing it away
B) Heading back to the store, because who keeps mascarpone cheese stockpiled in their fridge?
C) Simply consuming the entire cake in one sitting so I didn’t have to deal with battling sliding cake layers.
Realistically, any of these options would have sent me into an irritated tailspin, until I heard loud and clear the little voice shouting, “Trifle!” at me. Of course! Trifle is the absolute bomb because you get all the fabulous bits of a layer cake in every single bit, and it gets even better the next day when all the flavors meld into each other. What’s not to love about a ginormous cake parfait?
I put away the cake platter, pulled out the trifle bowl, and called it a day (or at least the portion where I had to knock out the cake. Wouldn’t that be heaven if the only thing you had to do each day was bake a cake???). It’s kind of like the saying goes, When life gives you lemons make lemondade, or as I’m thinking about trademarking, When your frosting is runny, make trifle.™
This post contains affiliate links. My opinions are always my own. If you purchase a product through an affiliate link, I make a small commission – at no cost to you.
SAVE THIS RED VELVET TRIFLE WITH MASCARPONE WHIPPED TOPPING TO YOUR PINTEREST BOARD!
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Red Velvet Trifle with Mascarpone Whipped Topping
Ingredients
Cake:
- 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour or gluten free all-purpose, flour I recommend Cup 4 Cup gluten free flour
- 3/4 tsp. salt
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 1/2 cup oil
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp. red food coloring
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 2 tsp. vinegar
Mascarpone Whipped Topping:
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 8 ounces mascarpone cheese
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
Candied Pecans:
- 1 cup chopped pecans
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp. vanilla
- 1/2 tbsp. water
Instructions
Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Spray two 9" cake pans with cooking spray, line with cut-to-size wax paper on bottom, and spray top of wax paper. Set aside.
- In a bowl whisk together flour, salt, and cocoa. Set aside.
- In a large bowl beat together sugar and oil until well combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well between each addition. Add the food dye and vanilla and beat well. Alternate adding the flour with the buttermilk, until both are mixed throughly.
- In small bowl mix the baking soda with the vinegar (it will bubble up and expand so make sure your bowl has room). Add to the batter and beat for 10 seconds. Divide the batter between the two cake pans.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until cake tester comes out clean. Cool cake in pans for a few minutes and then turn onto wire rack to cool completely.
Candied Pecans:
- Add sugar and cinnamon with water to a large sauté pan and heat over medium heat until sugar begins to melt. Add pecans and stir with a silicone spoon until pecans are well coated with sugar glaze. Add vanilla and stir. Transfer pecans to a parchment lined baking sheet to cool. Break apart as pecans cool.
Mascarpone Whipped Topping:
- In a large bowl beat together the cream cheese, mascarpone cream cheese, and vanilla until smooth.
- Add the powdered sugar and beat until smooth.
- If using a stand mixer, switch to a whisk attachment, gradually add the heavy cream, and whip until frosting is thick, about 3-5 minutes.
Assembly:
- Cut cake into large chunks and place 1/3 on bottom of trifle bowl. Top with 1/3 of mascarpone frosting and 1/3 candied pecans. Repeat 2 more times. Store in refrigerator.
❉DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE? DON'T FORGET TO GIVE IT A STAR RATING AND COMMENT BELOW!❉
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
OTHER RECIPES TO LOVE:
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MORE RELATED RECIPES:
Red Velvet Waffles from Go Eat and Repeat
Red Velvet Cheesecake Pancakes from Creme De La Crumb
Red Velvet Popcorn from Inspired by Charm
This post contains affiliate links. My opinions are always my own. If you purchase a product through an affiliate link, I make a small commission – at no cost to you.
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