I haven’t tried it in this recipe, but I think it would be fine to use gelatin. I would recommend sprinkling the gelatin on some water, letting it sit for a few minutes, then warming it up to dissolve the gelatin. Once it’s cooled slightly you can mix it into the cream cheese (similar to what I did with this recipe).

A layer of pie filling on top goes good too. Used strawberry with fresh berries on top. A hit with family this weekend. 

Yes, that would be fine. 2 cups of heavy cream is equal to about 4 cups of whipped cream, so I would probably use 4 cups of Cool Whip. You may want to reduce the powdered sugar by 1/4 to 1/2 cup as well.

Thank you!!

You can use another fruit if you prefer.

Yes, this is just a different variation. A lot of trifles do use custard, but this one uses a whipped cream cheese mixture instead.

It should serve about 8.