Happy National Gingerbread Day! Gingerbread is a concoction of honey and spices and can be referred to a variety of desserts ranging from cakes and biscuits, one of course, a cookie classically known as the gingerbread man.
I actually made this recipe after failing to keep a gingerbread swiss roll from breaking, so I decided to break up the pieces of iced cake and make a pretty trifle out of it. You can always fix a broken swiss roll by converting it to a trifle dessert. This recipe has a full molasses flavor without being overly sweet and a light cinnamon-ginger taste. It has a fluffy, cloud-like texture with surprise bits of sweet chocolate and crunchy toffee. The tanginess of the cream cheese just cuts through the sweeter, spice cake perfectly while the vanilla pudding adds an extra creaminess and lovely vanilla flavor. Really delightful.
Gingerbread Trifle | Erica Robbin
This trifle is perfect for the Autumn and holiday season, but on June 5th, it makes for a fun, reminiscent treat!
Credit: ericarobbin.com
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1/4 cup dark molasses
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 recipe Homemade Whipped Cream, divided in half
- 1 8oz package cream cheese, softened
- 1 3.4 oz box vanilla instant pudding mix
- 2 cups cold whole milk
- 3 Heath toffee and milk chocolate candy bars, roughly chopped
GINGERBREAD TRIFLE:
Directions
- GINGERBREAD TRIFLE:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees (177 C). Grease or use parchment paper to prepare any pans of any size and shape, as long as you can divide batter into 2-4 portions that rise to about 1/2 inch in thickness once baked. Can also use one 9×13 cookie sheet.
- Cream butter and sugar.
- Mix in eggs.
- Add vanilla, molasses, and honey.
- In separate bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.
- Add dry ingredients to wet mixture until combined.
- Bake cakes 18-22 min, or until done.
- Allow cakes to cool completely.
- For cake layers, mix half of Homemade Whipped Cream recipe with cream cheese and spread over cake to create a cake and icing sandwich of sorts. If using a cookie sheet, spread icing over top like you would to create a swiss roll to get the cake and icing sandwich layer effect.
- Prepare vanilla pudding as directed on box using milk as listed.
- Layer trifle by adding broken up pieces of iced cake into glass trifle footed dessert bowl, followed by pudding, bits of candy bar, then remaining half of Homemade Whipped Cream, and repeat.
- Garnish with candy bars.
- Chill in refrigerator for 2 hours or overnight.
I hope you enjoy! Some of my best memories are making gingerbread cookies with my grandma, she is definitely known for her soft, old-fashioned molasses gingerbread men cookies.
3 responses to “Gingerbread Trifle”
[…] Furthermore did you know that an ugly broken cake roll can be made into a beautiful and yummy Gingerbread Trifle? Look for opportunities to make the most of your less than ideal creations before you decide they […]
[…] allow it to be a complete fail by tossing it into the bin. In my example, I made mine into a Gingerbread Trifle. I just broke up the pieces and layered them as a trifle. An unsightly cake appearance turned into […]
[…] For example, a failed Swiss roll cake turned into a Gingerbread Trifle. […]