Gingerbread Christmas Trifle

This gingerbread Christmas trifle recipe will be sure to impress your guests; with layers of gingerbread cake, brown butter cream cheese frosting, chocolate caramel sauce, bourbon whipped cream and gingerbread cookies it’s a beautifully festive holiday dessert!

Gingerbread + Peppermint + Eggnog=the essential flavors of Christmas baking 101.

If I had to pick just one, I’d FOR SURE go with the gingerbread.  Not too sweet & warmly spiced, I mean, how can you go wrong with those cute gingerbread men??? 

I feel like when it’s time for you to bring out your trifle for dessert, everyone immediately goes “Ooooh, ahhhh”.  I like to call it the trifle reflex, you just can’t help it…I believe it’s mostly due to the fact that you can see literally every component inside the dessert, beautifully displayed for all to see.

If the sound of a Gingerbread Christmas Trifle with layers of spiced gingerbread cake, brown butter cream cheese frosting, dark chocolate salted caramel sauce, bourbon whipped cream and gingerbread cookie crumbles doesn’t get you in the holiday spirit, then I’ll be really disappointed for the rest of this post.

My favorite part is that you don’t have to worry about frosting the perfect cake or putting perfect swirls on cupcakes because everything’s layered in one big bowl.  Which is GREAT for me ‘cause let’s face it, I’m not the prettiest decorator (or the neatest).

Trifle desserts are great too because you can make all the layers ahead of time and then just assemble right before your party or event.  You can use anything you have on hand for your trifle: yellow cake, chocolate cake, left over crumbled cookies or brownies, pudding, whipped cream, the possibilities are endless!

Now, let’s discuss our delicious Gingerbread Christmas Trifle layers:

Layer #1: Classic Gingerbread Cake-moist & perfectly spiced with molasses ginger and cinnamon (original recipe from Liv for Cake-recipe here)
Layer #2: Brown Butter Cream Cheese Frosting-nutty, tangy, and creamy which is just what the gingerbread needs! Click here for how to make brown butter.
Layer #3: Dark Chocolate Salted Caramel-as if homemade caramel sauce isn’t amazing enough, we’re adding dark chocolate for some richness (and because in my eyes, it’s not dessert without some chocolate!). Recipe here.
Layer #4: Bourbon Whipped Cream-because you can’t have a trifle without whipped cream, we’re adding a touch of bourbon which balances perfectly with the sweet caramel and dark chocolate for a sophisticated slightly smoky taste.

This Gingerbread Christmas Trifle is the perfect holiday dessert if you're entertaining a crowd. It's easy to make ahead for one less thing you have to worry about before your guests arrive.