German Gingerbread Christmas Trifle

Prep Time 1 30

Cook Time 30

Extra time if making the cake + chilling time. 3

Total Time 5

Servings -20

Author Margaret Bose Johnson

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

This trifle feeds a large crowd (16 to 20). If you want a smaller trifle, it's easy to halve the whole recipe. Use half a loaf of Lebkuchen and make half of each recipe component. Assemble the trifle in a smaller bowl and just make one layer of each component (4 layers in total).

If you aren't into making all the tree decorations, you can just decorate the top of the trifle with little clusters of sugared cranberries and a sprinkling of toasted sliced almonds. (Or simpler yet, just the almonds.)