Heaven on Earth Cake with delicious layers of angel cake, sour cream pudding, cherry pie filling, whipped topping, and almonds. Creamy and decadent, this cherry trifle is a sure crowd pleaser!
I was out running errands when I received this text from G, “Hey, there’s heaven on earth in the fridge”. Whaat? WTH is heaven on earth?
Naturally, my curiosity was piqued and, duly intrigued, my first stop when I got home was the refrigerator.
Heaven on earth cake, I soon discovered, is an icebox cake made with layers of cubed angel food cake, vanilla pudding with sour cream, cherry pie filling, whipped topping, and toasted almond slivers.
G’s mom has been making this refrigerator cake for years for potlucks and family get-togethers. Creamy and decadent, it never fails to impress the crowd!
This dessert is actually a cherry trifle. Why it’s called heaven on earth, I have no idea. G thinks it’s because of the use of angel food cake. I think it’s because every bite is like finding heaven on earth.
It’s so simple to make; you’ll be pleasantly surprised how amazingly delicious it turns out with hardly any effort. So easy in fact the hardest part of the recipe is waiting for it to set and chill!
Helpful tips
- The recipe calls for angel food cake, but feel free to swap with pound cake, chocolate cake, vanilla sponge cake, brownies, crushed Oreos, or sponge fingers for variety.
- For an extra kick of flavor, briefly soak the cake cubes in sherry or fortified wine.
- I used Cool Whip to cut down on prep time, but you can use whipped topping from scratch if you like. With an electric mixer, beat one cup of very cold heavy cream until stiff peaks form.
- I usually use a 9 x 13 pan but if you want a thicker dessert, use a square 9 x 9 pan as in the video.
- Not a fan of cherry pie filling? Swap with strawberry or blueberry pie filling! This dessert is amazing all year round; try apple pie filling during the Fall months.
Want more no-bake desserts to enjoy this Summer? You’ll love the coffee flavor in this espresso refrigerator cake! Also, try this Three-ingredient Oreo cake and save yourself a trip to the ice cream parlor. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- 1 box Angel food cake or 1 prepared Angel Food Cake
- 1 package (3.4 ounces) instant vanilla pudding
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 can (21 ounces) cherry pie filling
- 1 tub (8 ounces) Cool Whip
- 1 tablespoon almond slivers, toasted
Instructions
- Bake angel food cake according to package's directions. Allow to cool and cut into cubes.
- In a bowl, combine pudding mix, milk, and sour cream and beat until smooth. Set aside.
- In a 9x13 baking dish, arrange 1/2 of cake cubes in a layer.
- Spoon 2/3 of cherry pie filling over cake.
- Place the remaining 1/2 of the cake on top of the pie filling.
- Spoon pudding over cake and spread evenly.
- Spoon and spread whipped topping over the pudding layer.
- Garnish cake with the remaining pie filling and toasted almonds.
- Chill for about 4 to 5 hours. Cut into servings.
Nutrition Information
“This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.”
Frances Carter says
Laraine, I wanted to let everyone know you can make these in cupcake papers if you are having a bake sale. We charged a $1.50 each. If they bought a 1/2 dozen we sold them for $8.00.
You can sale them for more or less depending on were you live. Some people can not spend $1.50 on one. This was a church bake sale so, if someone came up and could not afford that much the ladies saling them sold it to them for what they could afford and the ladies made up the difference. The church always made a lot at the bake sale. If we brought anything back that did not sale, after church on Sunday we site the bake Sale up there and everyone bought something and sometimes people would buy back what they donated.
Tina says
When you put them in the cupcake liners . Do layers them right in the cupcakes instead of the dish or make it in the dish and scoop them into the cupcake liners
Frances Carter says
Laraine, I have made this a lot for a lot of years now. I wanted to make a suggestion to the ladies that are making this for big parties or for large church get togethers. When I made this for church dinners I put three or four tips of filling and I never took any left over home.
Puff all gone. One day I came bake to the kitchen to get my baking dish and there were ladies in ther cleaning up. I asked for my dish and they pointed over to the corner, and there on the floor were about six children with my dish running their finger around the dish . I got it back almost clean, LOL We stood there laughing about it. I used different combinations, like
1. Chocolate, Strawberry, and Pineapple.
2. Blackberry, Blueberry, and Cherry
3. Chocolate, and Marshmallow sprinkled with Graham Crackers.
I never took a dish home with anything in it
I made a cake with pumpkin baked in it and flavored the whipped cream with pumpkin and then I took some Cinnamon and pumpkin spice mixed it together and crushed up some graham crackers and sprinkled some of the Cinnamon/ Pumpkin Spice mix together and sprinkled that over the whipped cream. Had people wanting the recipe. You can do a lot of different things with this recipe just open your mind and make your own.
Lalaine says
Thank you so much for the tips, Frances. I am excited to try the pumpkin twist for our Thanksgiving parties this year. I bet it’s delicious!
Tiffany Witherspoon says
I’m wondering how the chocolate and strawberries and pineapple turns out. Im wanting too make that,like right now. Lol Thank You!!!!
Sherry says
If I made this the night before would the cake become too soggy?
Lalaine says
Hello Sherry,
The recipe requires a few hours of chilling but overnight should be fine.
Lori Voorde says
Making this tonight!!! Can’t wait to try tomorrow … I followed the recipe , didn’t change a thing🍒🍒❤️
Lalaine says
Let me know how it turns out:)
Tami Thomas says
My mom and grandmother have been making this for as long as I can remember and I am 55! So much fruit, the bottom and top were always completely covered. They would alternate between cherry and blueberry, sometimes they would have both on the same cake, cherry on one side, blueberry on the other. They were famous for taking them to church potlucks and we’d have it for barbeques and picnics. We love it! My brother named it “Yum Yum Cake”.
Lalaine says
Using two types of fruit filling sounds amazing, will definitely try it next time I make this. Thanks for the tip!
Kimberly says
I accidentally purchased cook and serve pudding rather than instant… will this still work with the recipe?
Kristian says
Wow, imagine my surprise when I saw this on pinterest. My husband’s grandmother made this a lot!. Though, she never used sour cream, she did use cream cheese. She also made it with jello, similar to poke cakes. I fell in love with this cake the very first time I ate it, so his grandmother gave me the recipe. I in turn made it for our family as our kids grew, and now find myself passing this recipe to them.
Michele says
It says 9 x 13 pan but it looks like you used a 8 x 8. Which one is best?
Lalaine says
Hi Michelle, I mentioned in the post that you can use an 8 x 8 if you want a thicker dessert. We used 8 x 8 for the video as it’s easier to shoot but I personally prefer a 9×13 when making it as it doesn’t overflow.
Michele says
How do you think cheesecake pudding with this would be?
Lalaine says
Sounds like a delicious idea 🙂
Josie says
I made it with cheesecake pudding yesterday. … yum!
Lalaine says
Thanks, Josie. Cheesecake pudding sounds delicious!
Brittany says
Did you use the sour cream still with the cheesecake pudding or did you make the pudding as instructed on the box?
Karen says
I’m going to make this for our church fellowship we have every 3rd Sunday (except this month we are having it the 2nd Sunday)!!!! I’m so excited to try it. Instead of cherry pie filling I’m going to use the raspberry pie filling!!! Thank you for sharing!
Lalaine says
Enjoy! Raspberry pie filling sounds amazing, I am sure it will be a hit 🙂
Jekelly says
This dessert was easy to assemble; I made my own whipped cream and used sugar free instant vanilla pudding. The layers are so pretty in my trifle dish. This will be a good dessert to do with my grand girls
Lalaine says
Thank you for your feedback, Jekelly! Yes, it really is very easy to make and I can just imagine how pretty and colorful it looks in a trifle dish. I am sure the grandkids will have fun putting it together with you.
Karen says
Looks great but I’m not a fan of cherries; could this be done with strawberry or blueberry pie filling?
Lalaine says
Yes, definitely! Strawberry or blueberry pie filling sounds amazing! Youcan even switch it up with apple pie filling come Fall 🙂
Kelly Anthony says
This is indeed heaven on earth! Looks absolutely perfect!!!
Lalaine says
Thank you 🙂
Rosie @ Blueberry Kitchen says
Oh yum, this looks so delicious!
Lalaine says
Hi Rosie
Yes, it was delicious! Thanks for the visit.
Mary says
Hi, just admiring your Heaven on Earth Cake! Looks lovely but the sour cream made me kinda wonder a bit…I mean, with the sour cherries, could I use either yogurt or cream cheese or mascarpone instead?
Lalaine says
HI Mary.
The sour cream didn’t add any tartness to the cake. I’ve never tried yogurt, cream cheese or mascarpone but I think mascarpone would be the better substitution.
Thanks for the visit.
Daralyne Skladanek says
My Heaven on Earth Trifle Cake. turned out very good! I used cheese cake pudding instead of the vanilla. pudding & didn’t add] sour cream to the pudding. Also I used 1 can of Cherry pie filling for each layer, except the top. Only 3/4 of the can. for the top. & made my own whipped cream with 1t. of almond extract. On top of the cake I fineliy grated orange peel along with the slivered almonds.