This showstopping Christmas trifle will cap off your holiday feast with a WOW! Layers of rum-soaked Lebkuchen cubes (the German gingerbread), creamy white chocolate custard, and fluffy whipped cream are interspersed with the glorious astringency of a tangy orange cranberry sauce. Continue the magic with a tableau of sparkling white chocolate and spruce twig mini trees decorating the top of this memorable trifle dessert.
Pound cake or sponge cake?
Gelatin layer or most definitely not?
Fresh fruit or jam?
A tipple of sherry or a splash or brandy?
So many delicious decisions and all of them agonizingly important to the serious trifle maker. These issues are nothing to trifle with (pun intended).
Historically, trifle is a layered dessert of English origin, developed to use up stale cake. Sponge cake or lady finger biscuits were mentioned in the earliest versions, but pound cake is also used. The use of jelly can be a very divisive argument. (I'm firmly in the no-jelly camp.) The very first versions of trifle are without fruit jelly but by the 1700s calf's foot jelly was sometimes used to set the fruit layer. And sherry or brandy are both used interchangeably. The boozier the better!
The simplest modern versions involve sherry-soaked sponge cake, vanilla custard, jam or fresh berries, and whipped cream.
German Lebkuchen or Spicy Gingerbread?
Whether you use my easy recipe for Lebkuchen Loaf (it's the German version of gingerbread) to give your trifle a decidedly German spice profile or your own favourite gingerbread or spice cake recipe, it gets a boost from a good shot of spiced rum. You'll love the holiday flavour of warm spices mingling with the delicate white chocolate-flavoured custard and whipped cream. The zippy tang of an orange-flavoured cranberry sauce brings a bright counterpart to make the whole trifle sing.
You Will Need
Once you've chosen your cake base (Lebkuchen, gingerbread, or spice cake) you will need to make the White Chocolate Custard, the Orange Cranberry Sauce, and the White Chocolate Whipped Cream. Oh, and a few cute decorations (instructions below) for the final WOW factor.
Make it All Ahead
My favourite thing about this trifle (beside how beautiful it looks and how fabulous it tastes) is that you can make all the components ahead of time. Yes! Even a few days before your big event.
- bake the cake a week or two before (it also freezes well). The Lebkuchen recipe makes two loaves so you'll have one for the Christmas trifle and one to slice, spread with butter, and eat for breakfast or teatime
- the Cranberry Orange Sauce can be made up to a week in advance (you can even make a double recipe of this and use half of it for your turkey dinner and half for the trifle)
- the decorations can also be made up to a week ahead of time
- make the White Chocolate Custard up to 5 days in advance
- make the White Chocolate Whipped Cream up to 2 days in advance
- make the whole Christmas trifle the day before or the morning of your dinner so you don't have to think about dessert once the guests arrive
Fun Little Decorations
You'll love how easy these decorations are to make. For the White Chocolate Pretzel Trees, all you need to do is melt some white chocolate and put it into a piping bag fitted with a small round piping tip or into a ziptop plastic bag and snip off a tiny corner to pipe the chocolate through.
Sprinkle the trees with sanding sugar or silver dragées for a look of simple, sparkling elegance. Slide the parchment paper onto an upturned cookie sheet and pop them into the fridge until they're hardened, or let them set at room temperature for several hours.
The little spruce trees are so quick and easy to make. Get outside and snip a few twigs (4-6 inches long) off a spruce tree (or sneak them off the back of your live Christmas tree, if you have one). Turn them so the needles angle downwards, and use a scissor to cut off an inch or two of needles on the bottoms to make trunks.
To make the sugared cranberries, roll cranberries (fresh or thawed from frozen and dabbed dry) in egg white beaten until foamy, then roll them in granulated sugar.
Christmas Trifle Made Easy
Once you've got all the components made ahead, it's time to assemble your Christmas trifle. Get out your trifle bowl or a pretty glass bowl - after all, the point of a trifle is those stunning layers and you want to see them.
Cut your Lebkuchen or gingerbread cake into cubes and start layering. You'll make four layers and then repeat them.
Finish the Christmas trifle with a final layer of the White Chocolate Whipped Cream, then decorate it however your imagination guides you. Have fun with it!
Make a Half-Sized Christmas Trifle for a Smaller Crowd
This glorious trifle serves a crowd of 16 to 20 holiday guests. Are you having a smaller group for dinner? It's easy to make this trifle as a half-batch. Just use a smaller trifle bowl and half a loaf of Lebkuchen or gingerbread (I'm sure you'll find eager takers to eat the rest). It's easy to halve the portions of custard, cranberries, and whipped cream and make less layers for a lovely Christmas Trifle to serve 8 to 10.
A Blogger Collaboration for Christmas Trifle Making
For a fun Christmas project this year I collaborated with my foodie friends and fellow bloggers, Nicoletta and Loreto (of SugarLoveSpices) on a another decadent dessert-making project. Remember last year when we each made our respective versions of a holiday Yule Log? We were at it again this year and had a great day in the kitchen together. They made their trifle with an Italian flair to reflect their heritage, using Italian boxed Pandoro cake and luscious spiced plums, and I made mine with a German holiday spice profile, using Lebkuchen and cranberry sauce.
Head over to SugarLoveSpices to find the recipe for their gorgeous Pandoro Christmas Trifle.
Taste-testing our Christmas trifles was the highlight at the end of an enjoyable day together in the kitchen. They were both fantastic and will grace our holiday tables this season.
Wishing you a wonderful holiday season!
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Guten Appetit!
German Gingerbread Christmas Trifle
Equipment
- 1 large trifle bowl or deep salad bowl or a small punch bowl, preferably made of clear glass
Ingredients
For the Trifle:
- 1 loaf German Lebkuchen (10 cups of 1-inch cubes) or your favourite gingerbread cake (9x9")
- ½ cup (120ml) spiced rum or regular rum
- 1 recipe of White Chocolate Vanilla Custard (5 cups/1.2 litres) (see recipe below)
- 1 recipe of Cranberry Orange Sauce (3 cups/720ml) (see recipe below)
- 1 recipe of White Chocolate Whipped Cream (see recipe below)
- decorating elements of choice: white chocolate trees, spruce sprig trees, sugared cranberries (instructions below)
White Chocolate Vanilla Custard
- 6 tablespoons (60gms) cornstarch
- 4 tablespoons (50gms) sugar
- 4 cups (960ml) full-fat milk or light cream, divided
- 8 large egg yolks
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3.5 oz. (100gms) good quality white chocolate, chopped (or ½ cup+1 tablespoon white chocolate chips)
Cranberry Orange Sauce
- 1 cup (200gms) sugar
- 1 cup (240ml) water
- 2 teaspoons finely grated orange zest
- 5 cups (530gms) cranberries (fresh or frozen)
White Chocolate Whipped Cream
- 3.5 oz (100gms) good quality white chocolate, chopped (or ½ cup+1 tablespoon white chocolate chips)
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream (at least 33% milk fat)
Garnishes: White Chocolate Trees, Spruce Tip Trees, and Sugared Cranberries (optional)
- 3.5 oz (100gms) good quality white chocolate, chopped (or ½ cup+1 tablespoon white chocolate chips)
- 12 pretzel sticks, gluten-free, if necessary
- sanding sugar or silver dragées
- 3-5 tips cut from the end of spruce tree branches
- ~½ cup` fresh or frozen cranberries
- 1 egg white
- 2-3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- toasted sliced almonds, if desired
Instructions
Make the White Chocolate Vanilla Custard (makes 5 cups):
- In a medium-sized saucepan, whisk together the cornstarch and sugar. Whisk in about ½ cup (120ml) of the milk or cream to a smooth paste. Add the egg yolks and whisk again until smooth, then add the rest of the milk.
- Cook the mixture for 5 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring often. Then reduce the heat to medium and stir constantly until the custard comes to a full boil (about 5 more minutes). Let it boil for about 15 seconds, until the cornstarch is cooked.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the vanilla and white chocolate, stirring constantly until the chocolate is melted.
- Cool 5 more minutes, then stir it and cover the custard with a piece of plastic food wrap laid directly on top of the pudding (to prevent a skin from forming). When it is cooled, you can use it to make the trifle immediately, or refrigerate it for up to 3 days before using it to assemble the trifle.
Make the Cranberry Orange Sauce (makes 3 cups):
- Bring the sugar and water to a boil in a medium saucepan.
- Add the orange zest and cranberries and bring the ingredients back to a boil.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook the sauce for 10 minutes, uncovered.
- Allow to cool and use immediately, or chill the sauce in a covered container for up to a week before using it to assemble the trifle.
Make the White Chocolate Whipped Cream:
- Melt the white chocolate in the microwave or in a small bowl set over a pot of simmering water until it is ¾ melted. Remove from the heat and stir it until the remainder of the chocolate bits melt completely. Set it aside to cool for 10 minutes to lukewarm (but don't leave it so long that it solidifies again).
- Whip the cream to soft peaks. Add the partially cooled melted white chocolate and whip for another 30 seconds to incorporate the chocolate.
- Use immediately or cover and chill for up to a day before using it to assemble the trifle.
To Make the Garnishes:
- For the white chocolate trees: melt the white chocolate in the microwave in 15 second bursts or in a bowl set over a small pot of simmering water. Scrape the melted chocolate into a piping bag fitted with a small round tip or into a zip-top plastic bag and snip off a tiny corner. Lay the pretzels out onto parchment paper and drizzle the white chocolate back and forth over each pretzel stick in a triangle tree shape, leaving a small bit of pretzel uncovered at the bottom for a tree stem. Sprinkle with sanding sugar or silver dragées, if desired. Chill until firm.
- For the spruce twig trees: Cut spruce twigs about 4-6 inches (10-15cm) long. Turn them so the needles are angled downward, and trim the needles off the bottom 1-2 inches (2-5cm) to look like tree stems.
- For the sugared cranberries: If cranberries are frozen, allow them to thaw completely, then dab them dry with a paper towel. Beat an egg white with a fork until it is foamy. Dip the cranberries into the beaten egg white, then roll them in granulated sugar. Lay them onto parchment or wax paper until they dry.
Assemble the Trifle:
- Cut the Lebkuchen loaf or gingerbread cake into 1-inch (2.5cm) cubes.
- You'll make 4 layers and repeat them. Place half of the cake cubes in the bottom of the trifle bowl. Sprinkle them with half of the spiced rum.
- Stir the custard to loosen it if it is chilled. Dollop half of the custard over the cake cubes and spread it carefully to the edges of the bowl. Try to seal the custard to the bowl all the way around the edge so that it shows as a single layer from the outside of the bowl.
- Dollop half of the cranberry sauce over the custard, and spread it carefully right to the edges so you can see the layer from the outside.
- Spread half of the whipped cream over the cranberries.
- Repeat the layers, ending in the whipped cream. Spread it evenly over the top of the trifle, right to the edges.
- Decorate the top of the trifle with your choice of white chocolate pretzel trees, snipped spruce twig trees, and/or sugared cranberries or toasted sliced almonds.
Notes
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