Layers of moist lemon cake, lusciously tart lemon curd, fluffy vanilla cream cheese filling, and crushed Golden Oreos served in individual mason jars!
If there’s one kind of dessert that I can’t get enough of, it’s probably trifles. I don’t think I could ever get sick of trifles, especially because of the variety of textures you get in one dessert–fluffy cubes of cake, creamy filling, crispy cookies…so good! Not to mention, the flavor possibilities are endless!
A few weeks back, I made these to-die-for Mini Funfetti Oreo Trifles. Since I didn’t have a proper trifle dish, I used mason jars instead–best decision ever! Not only did they look much cuter (because all mini things are cute, let’s be honest), but they’re so portable. Just twist a lid on and you’re good to go!
So I decided it was time to make some more of those cute mini trifles. And with this summer heat, you really can’t go wrong with these Mini Lemon Golden Oreo Trifles.
This dessert pretty much screams summer. It’s like eating sunshine out of a jar!
Sorry, I’ll try to keep the Mary Poppins outbursts to a minimum…
This trifle has everything.
Moist cubes of sweet lemon cake…
Rich, buttery lemon curd…
Fluffy vanilla cream cheese filling…
and those glorious, glorious Golden Oreos….mmmmm…
Not only do these mini trifles look impressive, but they’re super duper easy AND fun to make.
Being that I went the extra mile to make the lemon curd from scratch, I figured that gave me a pass on using a cake mix for the lemon cake. Although I did doctor up the mix a bit by starting with a simple yellow cake mix and adding different flavors and ingredients to make it the nice, tart, and moist lemon cake I needed for these trifles.
For the lemon curd, I went with my own basic recipe. When it comes to lemon curd, I definitely prefer homemade. Besides the fact that it’s really easy to make, I also believe you get the purest lemon flavor and tartness.
As for the filling, I decided to keep the lemon flavor to a minimum because of the lemon cake and lemon curd. It’s basically a simple mixture of cream cheese, milk, instant vanilla pudding mix, and whipped cream. I added a little almond extract since lemon and almond pair really well together. The filling has the perfect mousse-like texture to go with the sweet tartness and thickness of the lemon curd.
And since I really enjoyed the Oreos in my Mini Funfetti Oreo Trifles, I added a nice, bountiful layer of chopped Golden Oreos to each trifle.
Perfect.
If you’re not an instant lemon lover by the first bite…
You are not human.
Mini Lemon Golden Oreo Trifles
Ingredients
For the Lemon Cake
- 1 box yellow cake mix
- 3 eggs
- 1 (5.3 oz) container lemon greek yogurt*
- ½ cup lemon juice
- ½ cup water
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
For the Lemon Curd
- 6 egg yolks
- 1 whole egg
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup lemon juice
- 3 Tablespoons lemon zest
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- 5 Tablespoons butter cut into half-inch pieces
For the Filling
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1 ½ cups milk
- 1 (5.1 oz) box instant vanilla pudding mix (dry)
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- ¾ teaspoon almond extract
- 1 (14.3 oz) package Golden Oreos (36 cookies)
- Sprinkles (optional)
Instructions
To make the Lemon Cake:
- Preheat your oven to 350ºF and spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine all of the cake ingredients. Stir until thoroughly combined, then pour into prepared pan. Bake in the oven for 25-28 minutes, or until cake bounces back when poked. Allow cake to cool completely, then slice into bite-sized cubes.
To make the Lemon Curd:
- In a medium saucepan, whisk the egg yolks, whole egg, and sugar together until just combined. Whisk in the lemon juice, zest and salt.
- Add the butter and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture has thickened, about 5-10 minutes.
- Immediately strain the curd through a fine-mesh strainer into a medium-size bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator to cool completely. Once cooled, transfer to a pastry bag or a gallon-sized ziploc bag with the tip of the corner cut off
To make the Filling:
- In the well-chilled bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream and powdered sugar together until stiff peaks form. Transfer whipped cream to another bowl and place in refrigerator to keep chilled.
- Return bowl to mixer. Switch whisk attachment out and replace with paddle attachment. Beat cream cheese until smooth. Gradually stir in the milk, about 1/4 cup at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Once all milk has been added, switch back to whisk attachment and add pudding mix, lemon juice and almond extract. Whisk on high for 2 minutes until mixture is smooth and thickened.
- Add 1/4 of the whipped cream to the bowl and mix thoroughly. Remove bowl from mixer and use a rubber spatula to gently fold the rest of the whipped cream into the pudding mixture. Transfer filling to a pastry bag or a gallon-sized ziploc bag with the tip of the corner cut off.
To Layer:
- Place a layer of cake cubes in the bottom of each jar. You'll use half of the cake. Then pipe half of the filling into each jar. Crumble or chop three Oreos into each jar. Pipe the lemon curd evenly among the mason jars, using all of it up. Add another layer of cake cubes (using up the last half of the cake), followed by the rest of the filling. Garnish each jar with one more Oreo and sprinkles.