Calling all chocolate lovers! This post is for you! With Valentine’s Day approaching, it is time to whip up something decadent for yourself or you loved one. What better way to say I love you than with a delicious Chocolate Covered Strawberry Trifle? It’s rich, chocolatey and super easy to make. It will have them coming back for more!

The Box of Chocolates

I don’t know about you, but when I think of Valentine’s Day, the first thing that comes to mind is chocolate. Most of us can probably remember getting a little red box shaped like a heart that was filled with a variety of chocolates. Those heart shaped boxes are so symbolic of this special day. It is always fun to find ways to transform familiar flavors into something new. Why just stick to candy when you can have the flavor of candy in something more “grown up”?

This Chocolate Covered Strawberry Trifle gets its name for two reasons. One being, of course, because it is loaded with chocolate. If you are not a fan of chocolate, then you can go ahead and walk away now. I feel sad for you. For the rest of us, this recipe will fulfill all of your chocolate cravings and then some.

Chocolate’s Perfect Match

The second part of its name comes from the strawberry pudding. Yep, that’s right! I said strawberry pudding. Now I realize that this may be a rare find (at least it was for me), but you just might be surprised to find it hiding amongst the other pudding flavors in your favorite store. I know I was! To make sure that there is plenty of strawberry flavor, it gets a little extra boost from strawberry puree.

Prep Time!

I would say that this recipe requires a little bit of prep work but barely any actual cooking. Fair trade in my opinion. Let’s start with the first ingredient that you will need to have ready to go, which is the brownie layer. I recommend using my Triple Chocolate Brownie recipe because it is so delicious in this dish, but if you would rather start from a box, that is fine too. Just be sure to grab a box that makes an 8×8 pan. Once your brownies are cooked, they will need to cool completely. This is a great thing to make the day before you actually want to make the trifle itself. Just hide them so they don’t disappear. Sometimes I have to hide things from myself.

Now let’s talk about the strawberry layer. For this you will need about six to seven plump strawberries (I just thawed some frozen). Pop them into a food processor and puree them until smooth. Then, you will need to mix up your pudding. I used two boxes of instant strawberry pudding for this. I cut back the amount of milk that it calls for on the box considerably in order to ensure that it would have a nice thick consistency. Once your pudding is mixed, add the strawberry puree and one container of cool whip. This gives it a light and fluffy texture. If you want the color to pop more, you could always add a little food coloring, but personally I try to avoid the stuff.

Almost There!

Next, we need to prepare the chocolate cheesecake layer. No worries, it is not a true cheesecake, so it is a cinch to make. Start by beating the cream cheese until it is smooth. Add in the sugar and vanilla and then set it aside while you get the chocolate ready. You will need some semi-sweet chocolate chips and part of the heavy cream to start. You could certainly use the double boiler method, but I find the microwave to work just as well. It definitely requires being careful though. Chocolate can overcook quickly and seize up. To help keep it nice and smooth, I placed the chips and half of the heavy cream in a bowl and microwaved it together for about 30 seconds. I removed and stirred, then heated it again for about 10 seconds. You will need to go in short spurts, stirring each time until it just starts to melt enough that you can stir it all together. Once it is done, let it cool for a minute, then add to the cream cheese mixture along with the rest of the heavy cream.

The final piece of prepping that needs to be done is the crushing of Oreos. Having a rough day? Grab a freezer bag, some Oreos, and a rolling pin and have at it. It’s very therapeutic. It is even a fun part for the kids to help out with. My daughter loved crushing (and sampling) the Oreos as we went along. She gets it honest. All that is left to do now is assemble! Get your trifle dish and let’s get started!

Time to Layer the Trifle

How you layer your trifle is up to you. I chose to start with a layer of the brownie. You will want to divide your brownies into thirds to fill the trifle dish. Crumble up one third of the brownies and sprinkle it over the bottom of the dish. Next, slather on a layer of strawberry pudding, followed by oreos and then the chocolate cheesecake. Simply repeat the layers until you reach the top!

The Chocolate Covered Strawberry Trifle can be served right away, but I prefer to refrigerate it for a bit to allow the flavors to mingle and for it to solidify a bit. When you taste this trifle, you will think you are biting into one of those little strawberry cream filled chocolates from the heart shaped box, or a delicious chocolate covered strawberry. It is the perfect end to a romantic Valentine dinner or a special treat for yourself. It is truly love in a dish! Happy Valentine’s Day!

Substitutions and Variations:

Brownie: you can use any brownie mix for this recipe as long as it is an 8×8 or 9×9 pan sized recipe.

Pudding: if you absolutely can’t find strawberry pudding, you could use vanilla, or even all more chocolate flavor by using chocolate pudding. You could even omit the strawberry altogether and solely use chocolate or cookies and cream (yum!).

Want more decadent goodies to try? Check out:

No Bake Banana Cheesecake Lush

Peanut Butter Cake