Despite how beautiful it looks, Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Trifle is really easy to make thanks to boxed cake and pudding mixes.

What is a Trifle?

According to the Merriam-Webster English dictionary, a trifle is

a dessert typically consisting of plain or sponge cake often soaked with wine or spirits (such as brandy or rum) and topped with layers of preserves, custard, and cream.

My recipe for Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Trifle is family friendly, so we’re skipping the alcohol part. However, we will be serving a trifle with layers of spice cake, pumpkin cream cheese ‘custard’ (ok it’s instant pudding), mini-chocolate chips and praline pecans (which are sold at Walmart in case you’re wondering).

I embellished the boxed spice cake mix by adding in a little more spice and a small box of powdered vanilla pudding mix to make the spice cake for Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Trifle extra delicious.

Simply bake it in a 9X13 pan and let it cool. Then you’ll slice it into 1 inch cubes with a bread knife.

Then mix two large packages of instant cheesecake flavored pudding with 1 cup of pumpkin puree and milk. FOLD in about a cup of Cool Whip. Folding is an important technique to learn for anyone who likes making sweet treats.

To fold: scrape your spatula along the sides and bottom of the bowl, then pull the spatula up and into the center, placing the contents into the center. Continue this process, working your way around the edges of the bowl until no more streaks remain. Folding whipped ingredients together keeps them from losing all their ‘air’. If you whisk or mix roughly during this step it will become thick and flat.

How to make a Trifle

Assemble all ingredient layers on your work space where they’re handy to reach, along with a trifle bowl. I found some beautiful trifle bowls on Amazon:

Fill the bottom of the trifle bowl with cake cubes, making sure the ones on the outside are pressed up against the glass. I move mine around a little to try to cram as many into one layer as I can.

Pour enough pumpkin cheesecake custard over the cake cubes to completely cover them. It should be about 1/3 of the custard. If needed, spread the custard layer out so it’s touching all sides of the bowl.

Sprinkle a layer of mini-chocolate chips over the custard, then a layer of praline pecans over that. Make sure that some of these toppings are pressed against the sides of the glass bowl so that all layers can easily be seen through the glass.

Now, repeat two additional times with the cake cubes, custard and toppings. You should just about reach the top of the bowl. I happened to have a little plastic pumpkin from a fall flower pick I bought at Walmart that was the perfect little decoration to plop on top. (I of course washed it first!)

So here is the final product- Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Trifle. Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy right?!

I really like how the chocolate and praline pecans help give a little crunch and balance to the soft cake and custard layers of this dessert.

Let me know what you think of this amazing recipe down in the comments below (and PLEASE rate, especially if you end up making it!). Enjoy!