Gingerbread Trifle

This post is in collaboration with Woolworths

I love-love-love gingerbread. You can use it instead of sponge to make a delicious trifle. I’m not a massive fan of trifle in general, but I love this version and so do my kids. It’s great if you’re after something quick and easy to whip up for dessert on Christmas Day to share with family and friends. It is actually really simple to make, with only three main ingredients. Woolworths have all the ingredients – whether you want to make the gingerbread from scratch, or take some shortcuts and buy the gingerbread ready-made. Both versions are yummy. Essentially, you need three ingredient layers: gingerbread, whipped cream, caramel.

Depending on how quick you want to whip this up, you can make your own gingerbread (you can always do this a few days before you need to assemble the trifle), use the gingerbread from the Woolworths bakery section, or it even works with gingernut biscuits. 

Then, for the filling, you just need thickened cream (whipped) and caramel. You can make your own caramel, but I find the tin caramel works really well, you just need to add a little water to make the consistency workable. 

On my recent visits to Woolworths, I’ve been looking around for some hacks to top the gingerbread trifle so it easily has that wow factor, and my top picks are the Bailey and May Iced Cookie Range, Bailey and May Fully Finished Gingerbread House (these are mini ones and look adorable and are only $2!) or the Woolworths Butterscotch Popcorn (which compliment this recipe brilliantly). 

Woolworths also has some brilliant Christmas homeware this year, so make sure you check out the Christmas aisle in-store. I have the Inspire Christmas Mini Trifle Bowls (4 pack) which are great if you want to do individual trifle versions, or if you want to make a bigger bowl, you  can serve it on a cake stand like this one and you can make the trifle look like it’s a snow globe.

Ingredients

• 4-5 cups of roughly crumbled gingerbread (you may need more of less, depending on how large your trifle bowl is)
• 2 x 600ml bottles of thickened cream, whipped
• 1 x tin Top ‘n Fill Caramel 
• 2 x tablespoons of warm water

Method

1. If you do want to make gingerbread from scratch, you can find the recipe here. Roll the dough into one slab about 1cm thick and bake at 180°C for approximately 15 minutes or once the edges are golden. You can always do this step a few days before you want to assemble the trifle. 

2. Once the gingerbread is completely cool, or using pre-bought gingerbread, roughly crumble it up. You’ll need about 4 cups of roughly crumbed gingerbread for a bowl about 18cm. 

3. Spoon the tin caramel into a bowl and add 2 tablespoons of warm water. Mix in the water well until it is completely combined, smooth and an easy-to-pour consistency.

4. Whip the cream, then you’re ready to assemble. 

Assembly

1. Add the roughly crumbed gingerbread over the base of the bowl approximately 2cm.
2. Add a layer of cream. Plop the cream in the middle and use a spoon to push the cream gently towards the outer edges of the bowl.
3. Drizzle a caramel in a circle around (but not touching) the outer edge of the bowl and drizzle more over the rest of the cream layer. I don’t tend to like it too sweet so tend to use less caramel but you can add to taste. 
4. Then repeat layers until the bowl is full.
5. Top with gingerbread, butterscotch popcorn, or fresh berries.  

Mini Trifle Bowl with Butterscotch Popcorn 

Mini Trifle Bowl with Bailey and May mini gingerbread house

Trifle bowl with Bailey & May Gingerbread shapes on cake stand / butterscotch popcorn in cake dome.

Serving Idea

Have a little extra caramel to serve in case anyone wants to drizzle some over their portion, and then add some strawberries to serve. YUM!