This is our fun, festive take on the classic lemon meringue brulée tart – reimagined as a layered trifle that’s as gorgeous as it is delicious. It’s got all the zesty, creamy goodness of the original tart, but piled high in a trifle bowl for maximum drama (and minimal effort). With layers of tangy lemon curd, light sponge and golden, pillowy meringue, it’s a total crowd-pleaser – and no one needs to know you used a store-bought cake.

Bring out the bright flavours of summer with this tropical mango trifle. Mangoes are the hero of this delicious Christmas dessert, with a vibrant mango jelly layer at the base and juicy slices fanned on top to pair with the golden passionfruit, green kiwi fruit and starfruit for a show-stopping visual. Fluffy chunks of Malibu-spiked madeira cake sink into the smooth whipped coconut cream filling, creating a luxurious texture of this velvety-smooth festive dessert. You’ll need an 8-cup (2L) capacity trifle dish, and you’ll need to start this recipe at least 4 hours ahead.

Pistachio is one of the hottest flavours of the year, and here we combine it with juicy, tart raspberries to create a stunningly vibrant festive dessert that showcases the colours of Christmas in delectably sweet trifle form.

“Enter a world of strawberry syrup-soaked sponge, seductively sweet white chocolate mousse and an abundance of fresh summery strawberries. The beauty of this knockout trifle comes from the varying shapes and sizes of the fresh strawberry slices. The best part is we’re not aiming for perfect uniformity, which makes this simply stunning effect very easy to create.” – Kirsten Tibballs. Images and text from Chocolate All Day by Kirsten Tibballs, photography by Armelle Habib. Murdoch Books RRP $49.99.

“This trifle is sure to be the the star of your festive table, too!” – Kerrie McCallum

Make the most of summer’s beautiful cherries with this stunning trifle. Assemble it the day before for relaxed entertaining. We added kirsch, the traditional cherry liqueur for a black forest cake, but you can simply omit if you prefer.

"Eggnog is a much loved Christmas drink in other parts of the world, but less well known here in Australia. It’s essentially a spiked, spiced thin custard, and is absolutely delicious. I’ve turned it into a thicker, more stable custard, perfect for layering in your trifle centrepiece this year." - Emelia Jackson

"These beautiful little spiced trifles are perfect for Christmas Day dessert; all the components can be made in advance and assembled before serving." – Emelia Jackson

"Tart berries, zesty lemon and a touch of spice, all rounded out with a sweet white chocolate mousse – expect everyone to ask for seconds." – Dominic Smith. You’ll need 2 x 20cm round cake pans and a 3L-capacity trifle dish, and you’ll need to start this recipe at least 6 hours ahead.

Ice cream trifle is the festive dessert recipe you never knew you needed this season.

“Nothing says Aussie summer quite like fresh mangoes, and trifle is such a crowd-pleasing Christmas classic – the two together combine to make a quintessential Aussie Christmas dessert.” – Tom Gorringe

“This stunning yet effortless trifle is the perfect show-stopper dessert for Christmas, and you don’t need to tell anybody how easy it was to put together!” – Lucy Nunes

Gowings Bar & Grill owner and chef Sean Connolly shares one of his favourite childhood desserts. This trifle is layers and layers of love and nostalgia.

Shared by one of our favourite cooks and authors, Belinda Jeffery, this delicious concoction is not a true trifle, nor a cream, nor a mousse, but sits somewhere happily in the middle. While it's certainly hard to beat a ripe, juicy mango, this works beautifully with any summer fruit, so use what you love. You'll need to start this recipe at least 5 hours ahead. This is an edited extract from Two Good Cookbook Two: Recipes for Resilience, available from twogood.com.au.

This trifle recipe is piled high with fresh peaches, wobbly jelly and creamy custard.