Description
Trifle must rest 12 hours before serving
Ingredients
- Mousse
- 2 1/2 c. heavy cream, divided
- 10 oz. white chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 c. peppermint candies, crushed
- Pudding
- 8 oz. dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 2 c. heavy cream
- 2 large egg yolks, room temperature
- Brownies
- 1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 8 oz. dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 1 1/2 c. sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
- 3/4 c. all-purpose unbleached flour
- 1/2 tsp. sea salt
- Garnish
- 1/4 c. peppermint candies, crushed
Instructions
- Make the mousse. Prepare an ice-water bath; set aside. Place white chocolate in a bowl. Bring 1 cup cream almost to a boil in a small saucepan. Pour cream over chocolate and stir until smooth. Set in ice-water bath. Let cool, stirring occasionally, until thick enough to hold ribbons on surface, about 30 minutes. (If it’s still not holding ribbons, pop it in the freezer, stirring every 5 minutes until firmed up.) Beat remaining 1 1/2 cups of cream to nearly stiff peaks. Fold into chocolate mixture until smooth, then fold in candies. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until thickened and almost firm, 4 to 6 hours. If after completely cooled and refrigerated the mousse is still too loose, whip again with a hand mixer to thicken.
- Make the pudding. Pour chocolate into a large bowl; set aside. Add egg yolks into a small bowl. Whisk and set aside. Bring cream almost to a boil in a small saucepan. Pour 1/2 cup of hot cream in to the eggs in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly to temper the eggs. Pour mixture back into pan, whisk well. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 2 minutes. Pour over chocolate; whisk until smooth. Set bowl in ice-water bath. Let cool, stirring occasionally, until thick enough to hold ribbons on surface, about 15 minutes. Place plastic wrap directly on surface; refrigerate until set, about 3 hours. (If pudding has tiny egg clumps, pour through a fine mesh strainer while still warm to remove.)
- Make the brownies. Preheat oven to 350°. Line an 8-inch square baking pan or heatproof glass dishpan with overlapping parchment paper, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Set aside. Place butter and chocolate in a double boiler or large heatproof bowl set over (but not touching) simmering water; stir frequently until chocolate and butter are melted, about 7 minutes. Remove bowl from heat; let cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.
- Stir sugar into cooled chocolate mixture until combined. Whisk in eggs one at a time, whisking until smooth after each addition. Whisk in vanilla. Gently fold in flour and salt. Pour batter into prepared pan, and smooth top with an offset spatula. Bake until cake tester inserted in the center comes out with only a few moist crumbs attached, 40 to 45 minutes. They will be fudgy. Using parchment, lift brownies out of pan and onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Assemble. Spread one-third of the mousse into bottom of a glass trifle bowl that is 8 to 10 inches in diameter. Crumble brownies, and top with 1/2 of the brownies. Top with half the pudding, then another third of mousse. Place remaining brownie crumbles on top. Top with remaining pudding, then mousse. Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate 12 hours. Garnish with peppermint candies just before serving.
Notes
• First of all, if you get stuck, send me a tweet or an email. I’ll be on call.
• This isn’t the cheapest dessert, but over the years I’ve learned how to cut costs without cutting quality. For the cream, head to Costco and buy in bulk. Mucho savings. For the chocolate, be sure to buy good quality. Chips are cheaper than bars unless you have a Trader Joe’s nearby. They sell dark chocolate by the pound. Holla! Make sure your white chocolate is the real deal, no partially hydrogenated stuff. I prefer Ghiradelli or Trader Joe’s.
• To allay any baking anxiety, this dessert is most manageable when made in two days. Day 1: Make mousse and pudding. Day 2: Make brownies and assemble. Day 3: Eat.
• When making the pudding and mousse, you will need to heat heavy cream. So save that saucepan instead of dirtying up more dishes.
• To temper eggs for the pudding (or anytime), pour a small amount of the heated cream into the whisked eggs instead of the entire amount. Whisk constantly until combined. It’s much easier to keep the eggs from curdling this way. And, if they do curdle, you haven’t ruined all that expensive heavy cream. I learned that one from experience.
• If you are using chocolate chips, no need to coarsely chop.
• Skip the Starlight Peppermints and go for the regular or mini candy canes. They are much easier to crush. I place them in a freezer bag, fold over, and use a meat tenderizer to crush.
• Save the egg whites from the pudding for tomorrows breakfast. I told you I’d divulge ALL my secrets.
I had a time cooking those brownies! I probably had to cook them for an extra 20 minutes. So far everything else has seemed straightforward. It’s sitting in the fridge, so we will see what happens tomorrow!
Hello! This looks and sounds AMAZING! I plan to make it for a Christmas party on Friday (so will start tonight per your 3 day tip — love it!). One question: will the crushed peppermint candies end up melting into the mousse part to give a peppermint flavor? Or are they supposed to be crunchy? (If crunchy, how fine do you crush?) Thank you!
Hey Kat! They mostly melt. There’s usually a tiny bit of crunch. Let me know how it goes or if you have any other questions!
When you reference dark chocolate are you using semi sweet chocolate?
I really like dark chocolate, so I use dark chocolate. But feel free to use semi-sweet or even milk if that’s your preference!
I made this last year for my work Christmas party. I was a new employee and wanted to impress and Love fruit trifles but never made a dessert. Well, It was a huge hit but ….. Another co-worker and I were tasked to bring dessert. She brought a beautiful bakery bought carrot cake and I brought the Trifle. Her huge cake had 1 piece eaten and my trifle was gone! I felt so bad for her. Forward a year, I am making it again! So excited to eat it again that I’m making 2, one for work and 1 for my family!
So I don’t typically post reviews but I wanted to say that I was so excited to make this recipe and when I finally got the chance to, I had the same issue as the person above regarding the thick pudding. It made it pretty much impossible to create the trifle – it was like glue! Next time I would make it again, but with a different pudding recipe. Also agree about the mousse taking longer to form stiff peaks, but that was easy to manage.
Thanks for the feedback! The pudding is naturally very thick. So thick it’s probably misleading with the name pudding attached to it. I should consider changing it. Thanks for the heads up. I drop spoonfuls of to create a layer. After everything sits, it should meld together nicely while still holding it’s shape. Hopefully you enjoyed the flavor! Thanks again for the feedback!
I already started making this, I know your notes call for good white chocolate but I goofed and didn’t read the notes until later-oops! Does it turn out well if I made it with the lessor quality white chips?
As long as the chocolate melted smoothly, you should be golden!
I think i’m going to make this for a couple of dinner parties I have coming up – it looks so yummy!!
I’m wondering how well the mouse and pudding will keep if I don’t plan to make the second bowl until Tuesday? Will they keep in the fridge for a couple of days, or should I wait until i’m ready to actually compile the bowl?
I’ve tested this by making the pudding and mousse a day in advance before assembly. I think you can surely squeeze in an extra day!
If I were to add alcohol to this- would you suggest adding it to the brownie layer or to the pudding?
Hmmm…. I think you could go either way. I might stir it into the puddling after it’s no longer hot. What kind of alcohol are you using? I love this idea!
I made this for a party last night and it was AWESOME. The only problem is that only half of it got eaten because there were other desserts and now I have like one million calories in my fridge.
I think next time, I’d swap out the chocolate pudding recipe for one with milk and cornstarch – it doesn’t really need the extra richness.
Yes I did take this to a Christmas party and it was a huge hit! Once one person tried it within minutes it was gone because everyone said that is so good you got to try it! Thanks for sharing. I loved it just how you had the recipe and I used milk chocolate because that’s what my husband likes.
So I am making this for a Christmas party I am going to tomorrow. I made everything today so tomorrow I just need to put it all together. One thing I LOVE about this trifle is that everything is made and there are no fillers. You make the pudding it’s not from a box and you make the mouse you don’t use cool whip. It is so good individually I can only imagine how awesome it is going to be all together. Thanks for sharing! And I do think I’ll have a note that says a little goes a long way. I already told my husband that my dessert will be the only one he will want to eat tomorrow!
Thanks for leaving a comment after the task of making this beast. Hope it was a hit!
My stepmom has brought this dessert to Xmas the last 2 years. I was in love. I thought if it two days ago as I pondered what to bring to a friend’s Bday party potluck. I chose this. Because it’s February, and because it’s been such an intense winter, I wanted to substitute the peppermint with fresh berries. WOWIE! Still delicious, and the berries gave it a whole new taste. Additionally I put whole berries on the top, which was just more “lightness” to counter the richness of the rest, plus they were beautiful. It was a huge success, I have pointed a number of people to this website for the recipe at their request. My only suggestion to people serving this for the first time is construct a little note to place in front of the dessert – it is seriously the richest dessert I have ever had. My note said “a little goes a long way!”
The pudding is very thick. I will probably make it just a smudge thinner next time. But for a first time maker, everything went exactly as described, so hooray.
Oh! I almost forgot- as I made all of the separate components of this trifle my boyfriend insisted on eating a brownie on its own. He replied with “this is the best f-ing brownie I have ever had…why are you crumbling this awesomeness into a bowl with a bunch of other stuff?!?!!” So of you ever want to just make brownies, this is truly an exceptional recipe.
Thank you for posting it!
So I can’t remember how I fell upon this recipe, but it looked like a perfect dish to make for Christmas dinner. It was fairly simple to make – although I dont believe that the white chocolate will form ribbons in 15 mins. It takes quite a while for ganache to set…
The brownies were good, and the mousse was good but the pudding was way too thick. Also the peppermint overwhelmed the whole dish. I found it incredibly sweet and way too dense. I was expecting the mousse to help make it a lighter dish but it wasn’t at all.
Im only adding this because although there are lots of comments about how great it looks, theres not much referencing how it turns out!
Overall, it was an ok dessert – the kids loved it – but I didn’t get the rave reviews I was hoping for.
Hey Kelly! I really appreciate the feedback. You’re right, it’s a rich dessert. A little goes a long way. The sweetness may vary depending on the chocolate you use. I tend to use dark, so I haven’t had that issue. As for the pudding, I happened to make it with one less egg this year (by accident), and the texture is much better (not nearly as thick). I will update the recipe accordingly. I’m sorry it wasn’t as big of a hit for you! Hope that doesn’t deter you from trying other recipes. Again, I really appreciate your feedback!
Made this for Christmas was a huge success! It was time cosuming making all the components but it was so worth it once its all put together. And I have to say best brownies EVAH!!!!
So so glad you liked it! The brownies are our fave too. Happy New Year!
I am anticipating success. I have made the mousse, pudding, and brownie for the Christmas white chocolate candy cane trifle. All I have left is to assemble it. So far, everything tastes perfect. I am so excited to serve it tomorrow evening. Thank you for the recipes and instructions. Merry Christmas! I look forward to using more of your recipes in the New Year.
I made this this weekend – over the 2 days like you suggested to make it easier! Your instructions were great – it turned out beautifully! The only change I made was that I only did 1 layer of pudding as my pudding was super dense and hard to ‘spread’ over the brownies. No big deal though – it looked amazing and tasted even better! I just got back from a pot luck and it was a big hit. It’s definitely going to be a christmas favourite! Thanks & Merry Christmas
So glad you liked it! Thanks for letting me know! My pudding always tends to be pretty dense too. I’ve thought about changing it, but once it’s all together, I just love it. I’ll add a note in the recipe that dense is normal. Merry Christmas to you too Jennifer!
Well if this doesn’t make us all miss you! The party is on Wednesday….you know what to bring! 🙂
Aww, I wish I could be there! You know me, I’d be making this at the very last minute. Thanks for saying hi Lori! Huge hugs your way!
Wonderful looking pudding. It’s good to eat something that tastes even better than it looks:)
This looks so pretty and delicious! Any way that I could use milk chocolate in replace of the dark chocolate? My family isn’t a big fan of dark chocolate anything but I would really like to make this for Christmas.
For sure! Hope you guys love it as much as we do.
I think I’ll apply for a job in your office!
I made this last night, perfect dessert for a sunny NZ Christmas, thanks 🙂
Oh, wow!! Not in the cards for this year, but next Christmas, I think I’ll plan our entire dinner around it! Thanks!
I now have an additional dessert I just must make. This could also be aptly named Heaven in a Bowl.
P.S. I think I see you!.
it look so pretty, it’s one of the perfect chrismas dessert. Joy form Paris
She’s soooo pretty!!! I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to put this book down!
Thank you for saving some of this amazing dessert for me to sample after your office party. Wow! This was a dream come true for a chocoholic like me – the clouds of peppermint mousse provided just the right amount of lightness to cut the decadent fudginess of the brownies and the rich chocolate pudding. Divine!
I think I’m in love!
I’m in love.
I can do this!! Now – it may not be as pretty as yours – but oh my!! this looks delish!!
You’ll knock mine out of the park! And I hope you have pictures and tips to prove it.
Great recipe! I want to make it for Christmas !
Oh. Em. Gee. Yes!
This literally includes everything that I adore! Wish I could take a spoon to that trifle bowl.
Trifles have never really struck my fancy until…I saw your Christmas in a Bowl. Dang that sounds amazing–like put my whole face in the bowl amazing. I love a Christmas cookie as much as the next lass, but this trifle is a tempting breath of minty fresh air. Thank you! I’m heading to my in-laws for Christmas with your C in a B in tow. Ho ho ho!
I’m honored this could change your mind! Hope you love it! And if it tips over in the car, it will still taste good….not that that happened or anything.
I don’t know if I could make this- I’m afraid it would never leave my arms 🙂
That very thing happened to me the first time I made it. And then I held in my hips. It was worth it.
i don’t know what you’re talking about- she is gorgeous! and trifles are so freaking good. i wish i had a big trifle bowl so i could make this!! yummmmm 🙂
Trifle smifel 🙂
Heck, you can make it in a bowl. Do it!!
Wonderful tips for this. Absolutely beautiful. I love trifles like this!
You’ve convinced me! This looks incredible!!! And your descriptions of this *Christmas in a bowl* makes me want to make it asap! Great recipe 🙂
Wow, this looks amazing! I’ve never made (or even eaten) a trifle before and I think this needs to be the first one I try. Those are definitely all my favorite things in one bowl!
Thanks for this. I needed a office potluck recipe. Perfect timing!!
It’s the best for office potlucks! I guess you could say it was born out of one.
Gorgeous and decadent holiday dessert!
Is that a reflection of you in the ornament? Can’t tell. I just know that I want some Christmas in my tummy.
I am in the ornament! Smashed up against the window. The neighbors must think I’m crazy.
Let’s make this CHRISTMAS AND BEV IN A BOWL, so I can eat my way out. Cool, cool.
I’m seriously laughing out loud! I can picture honey-I-shrunk-Bev in the trifle bowl. You always put a smile on my face!
Hmm. That looks incredible. I love chocolate and mint. And Christmas.
Something else you’re well known for? Making me extremely hungry! This looks amazing!!
Wow, does this look decadent! It figures that you have a great reputation at your office 🙂
Woah there, girl. Want.
Just talking to a co-worker about this memorable little treat today!
Hey Linda! You were the original Christmas in a Bowl eater! I’ve tweaked the recipe once again for ease sake. Miss you and hope you are well!
Sooooooooo pretty!! Love it! : )
Oh my word! What a lovely treat!