Light It Up

• Light or white rum, which usually clocks in at about 80 to 100 proof, gets its name from the clear color of the liquor due to its not being aged in oak casts like other rums. White rum goes well in creamy and fruity trifles like the strawberry and mascarpone trifle, which also has layers of vanilla-infused cream and ladyfinger cookies. The liquor can also disappear into simpler trifles, such as the Russian cake trifle, which lists yellow cake mix, raspberry jam and buttercream frosting as some of its ingredients.

The Dark Side

• Dark rums, which tend to be smokier than lighter rums, are good liquors for sipping as well as being mixed into cocktails. Another medium proof rum, dark rums blend well with more sugary trifles, such as the sticky toffee cranberry trifle, made with date cake and fresh dates, and the cinnamon toast trifle, which has layers of cinnamon bread with raisins. Dark rums also work well in trifles with caramelized ingredients, such as a bananas Foster trifle that stems from the famous New Orleans dessert.

Spice It Up

• Spiced rums get their distinct flavor when actual spices are introduced into the distillation process. These rums pair the liquor's natural sweetness with the heat from spices like cinnamon and vanilla. Spiced rums work best in trifles with ingredients that will accent the spices, such as peach, vanilla and spiced rum trifle with port wine jelly as well as ground ginger, cinnamon and allspice. Other trifle types that benefit from spiced rum are those with a lot of fruit, such as the strawberry pineapple trifle, with equal parts strawberries and pineapples sandwiched between layers of pound cake.

Fruity Flavors

• Fruit-flavored rums get their specific flavors from either whole infusions or extracts and other ingredients. Although flavored rums are not as widespread in trifles as other rums, a few desserts do call for them specifically. Of all of the flavors, coconut works best in a greater number of trifles, including the tropical rum trifle, which blends together exotic flavors like mangos, pineapples and macadamia nuts, and the mango strawberry trifle, a tropical take on strawberry shortcake. Other tropically flavored rums make good substitutions in recipes where coconut-flavored rum is needed -- like passion fruit and pineapple rums.