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.”
Sylvia sabori says
Thanks for sharing it is simply and quick to make. I made your recipe, then I made another one with chocolate cake it tasted like chocolate covered chrries. The possibilities are endless, my next project is to make a key lime heaven on earth cake
Diann says
This dessert is definitely a crowd pleaser! I’ve made it twice, both times I’ve used cheese cake flavored pudding and vanilla yogurt ( what I had on hand). Delicious and light! Can’t go wrong with this one!
C. Masgio says
This is so delicious and easy to make. I definitely will be making this again, especially since the holidays are coming up. It will make a perfect dessert.
Lauren Medlin says
How long would this stay good in the fridge? I would love to make it for my SIL birthday but we will be at the beach without a kitchen so would like to make it a few days ahead of time
Lalaine says
Properly stored, I would say about 2 to 3 days.
Charlene says
The best thing about this cake is it is quick and easy and keeps for at least a week. If you need it for a specific event I recommend making it at least a day or even 2 ahead of time. Make sure u have at least a 3 – 4″ deep dish to make it in. It’s pretty high once u get all the layers in.
Crystal says
Hi can you double the ingredients in the 9×13 to make it thicker so it looks like the 8×8 thickness??
Lalaine says
I am sure you could 🙂
Diann says
This is a MUST try!!! Delicious! My family absolutely loves this dessert!! Today I am going to try with blueberries. Thank you for posting such an AWESOME dessert!
Lalaine says
Thank you for the 5 stars! Blueberries sound delicious!
Barbara says
I made this for a charity dessert auction it brought in $40.00. Today I made it to take to a visit with my friends. It’s very easy and yummy!
Lynn says
It’s Christmas and I have always made this with pistachio pudding! It has all the right colors and there really is not a lot of taste difference…or at least I don’t think so!
Lalaine says
Thanks for the tip! Will definitely try this with Pistachio pudding. I can just imagine the colors!
Jaycee says
You can add a couple drops of green food coloring to the vanilla pudding too.
Joyce says
I’m making this for church Christmas dinner using strawberry pie filling nana
Lalaine says
Enjoy!
Trudy says
I’ve made this twice now and i got soo many complaints!! I’ve added some of my own touches tho. I added cool whip to the pudding mix. Then I used strawberry filling instead of cherry. I also cut up fresh strawberries with 1tbls of sugar and added that with the pie filling. With the remaining strawberries I added a few on top of the cool whip to finish it off…looks AMAZING!!
Shelia says
5 stars delish!
Lalaine says
Thank you so much!
C says
Excellent! Thank you for sharing your recipe.
Debbie Rickett says
This recipe is so easy to make and is so delicious. I made it in an 8 x 8 pan. Instead of using vanilla pudding I used French vanilla pudding, it gave it just a little more of a different taste. Also I used pound cake I found it gave it a little more of a sturdy base.
Trudy says
This recipe is to die for. I changed a few things..adding my own touches and its always a big hit!! I did not use a angel food cake..I find it very sticky and hard to work with. So I just used a regular white cake mix. Also I cut up fresh strawberries and added a little sugar to them. I also added whip cream to the pudding mix. I had to make 4× the amount for my work picnic and used a big lasagna foil pan..it was HUGE!! And not 1 piece was left.. Thank you for sharing this recipe it is now my favorite dessert to make!! 😊😊
Trudy says
Made this twice now and its soo good. I added my own touches tho. With the pudding mix I added 8oz of whip cream and I also cut up fresh strawberries and added 1 tlbs of sugar to them. I used strawberry pie filling as well. The first time I made this I used the angel food cake..never again it was soo sticky and hard to work with. This time I just used a regular white cake mix. So much better. I topped it off with the strawberries. Everyone loved it!!