Punch Bowl Cake Strawberry punchbowl cake is a nostalgic Southern layered dessert made by combining cubes of cake—often angel food or pound cake—with vanilla pudding, whipped cream, fresh strawberries, and sometimes crushed pineapple or bananas in a large glass bowl. The layers create a colorful, trifle-like presentation where the fruit juices soak lightly into the cake, making it rich, creamy, and refreshing all at once. It’s a classic potluck and summer gathering dessert known for its bright berry flavor and dramatic presentation.
Trim away all the brown crust from the angel food cake. Use a serrated knife to remove this thin brown layer. Don’t gouge into the cake. Save the brown crust for hungry family, or discard.
Tear the cake into small pieces. Really take the time to make small bite-size pieces. It is difficult to eat when there are large hunks of cake in the slippery pastry cream.
Secondly, prepare the vanilla pastry cream by using a hand mixer to combine the pudding mix, and cream cheese in a medium size deep bowl. Once mixed, gradually add the milk. Fold in one carton of whipped topping.
Put a 1/3 of the angel food cake bits in the bottom of punch bowl. Top with a 1/3 of the pastry cream mixture. Arrange a 1/3 of the strawberries over the pastry cream.
Repeat this layering two more times. Cover with plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator at least 4 hours or even overnight. You can eat it right away, but it is best when the strawberry juice and pastry cream have softened the angel food cake bits.
Remove from refrigerator about 15 minutes before serving. Top with as much as you like, or all of the second carton of whipped topping. Garnish with the 3 reserved strawberries. Refrigerate any leftovers.