Gingerbread Trifle is a layered dessert of homemade gingerbread cake, pumpkin spice pudding, and white chocolate pudding, topped with a whipped topping and more cake pieces. Try this Very Berry Trifle for another delightful layered dessert.
Gingerbread Trifle
A traditional trifle is an English dessert that is layered with some sort of cake, custard, fruit, and whipped cream. This trifle doesn’t have any fruit, but it is definitely a layered dessert. It starts with moist gingerbread cake and two layers of pudding, repeated two more times. And, of course, it’s all topped with creamy whipped topping.
Gingerbread Trifle Ingredients
Cake: The molasses in the gingerbread cake is unsulphured molasses. Unsulphured molasses (regular molasses) is richer, thicker, and sweeter than sulphured. It is made with fewer preservatives because it is made with more mature sugarcane. Sulphured molasses has added sulfur dioxide to the younger sugarcane, so that can alter the flavor of the recipe.
For best results, have all ingredients (especially butter, eggs, and milk) at room temperature. To be specific, room temperature ingredients should be 65-70°F.
Pudding Layers: You will need two boxes of white chocolate instant pudding mix. One of the puddings will have pumpkin pie spice and whipped topping added to the mix, giving it a pumpkin spice flavor.
Pumpkin Pie Spice: If you don’t have this spice on hand, make your own homemade pumpkin spice!
How to Make Gingerbread Cake
The first thing you will want to do for this gingerbread trifle is make the cake. It will have to cool completely before cutting it into pieces and adding it to the dessert. To get started, cream the butter and sugar. This is where room temperature butter (65°F) is so important. If you use it right out of the refrigerator, it’s too cold. If you forgot to take it out, do not warm it in the microwave. Instead, cut it into little pieces to let it come to room temperature a little faster.
After the butter and sugar are mixed until light and fluffy, add the molasses and room temperature egg. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and salt. Whisking will ensure that the baking soda and salt are evenly distributed.
When adding the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture, alternate between adding the flour mixture and the water. Start by adding about 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by half the water. Add another 1/3 of the dry ingredients, followed by the other half of water. End with adding the rest of the flour mixture. Mix until combined.
Pour the cake batter into a 9×9-inch baking dish that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Bake at 325°F for 45-50 minutes. Check the cake after 30 minutes. If you notice the edges getting too dark, cover with aluminum foil. The cake is done when an inserted toothpick comes out with a few dry crumbs on it (but not wet batter). Let the cake cool completely before cutting it into cubes.
Pudding Layers
For each layer of pudding, you will use a box of white chocolate instant pudding mix. (If you prefer, you can make homemade pudding as well.) Follow the box instructions to make the white chocolate pudding. To make the pumpkin spice pudding, simply add a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice to the dry pudding mix and milk mixture and fold in whipped topping. Place them in the refrigerator until ready for assembly.
How to Make Gingerbread Trifle
Once the cake has cooled and the puddings ready to go, it’s time to get this dessert layered! I used a trifle dish, but if you don’t have one of those, use a large glass bowl or large glass vase. The point is to see all those yummy layers in the dessert.
- Cover the bottom of the trifle dish or glass bowl with a layer of cubed gingerbread cake.
- Top cake with one cup of the pumpkin spice pudding.
- Use 1 cup of the white chocolate pudding for the next layer.
- Repeat this layering two more times. (Cake, pumpkin spice pudding, white chocolate pudding)
- Finish it all off with the reserved whipped topping and extra cake pieces.
- Chill until ready to serve.
Instead of serving out of one big trifle bowl, you could also use mason jars to make individual servings of this dessert. It’s fun to have people assemble their own dessert with all the available layer options laid out, or you can have them individually assembled before you serve them!
Looking for More Layered Desserts?
Ingredients
Gingerbread Cake
- 9 tablespoons butter, room temperature
- ⅓ cup (67g) granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (253g) molasses, unsulphured
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 2¼ cups (281g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup water
Pumpkin Spice Pudding Layer
- 1 box (3.3 ounces) instant white chocolate pudding mix
- 2 cups (490g) cold milk
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 16 ounces whipped topping, divided
White Chocolate Pudding Layer
- 1 box (3.3 ounces) instant white chocolate pudding mix
- 2 cups (490g) cold milk
Instructions
Gingerbread Cake
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Preheat the oven to 325°F. Spray a 9×9-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
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In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
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Add the molasses and egg. Beat until smooth.
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In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and salt.
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Add about 1/3 of the dry ingredients to the butter and sugar mixture, mixing until just combined (don't overmix). Add half the water, followed by another third of the dry ingredients. Pour in the remaining water and add the final third of the dry ingredients. Mix until combined.
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Pour batter into prepared baking dish. Bake 45-50 minutes. (Check the cake after about 30 minutes; cover with aluminum foil if the edges are getting too dark.) The cake is done when an inserted toothpick comes out with a few crumbs, but no wet batter. Remove from the oven and let cool as you prepare the pudding.
Pumpkin Spice Pudding
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In a bowl, combine a box of pudding mix with 2 cups milk and pumpkin pie spice, whisking for 2 minutes.
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Gently fold in half (8 ounces) of the whipped topping, reserving the other half for the topping. Refrigerate until ready to use.
White Chocolate Pudding
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In a bowl, add a box of white chocolate pudding mix and 2 cups cold milk. Whisk for about 2 minutes. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Assembly
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When the cake has completely cooled, cut it into 1-inch cubes.
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Cover the bottom of a trifle dish with a single layer of gingerbread cake pieces.
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Top with a cup of the pumpkin spice pudding, followed by a cup of the white chocolate pudding
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Repeat this layering two more times.
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Top with the reserved whipped topping and extra gingerbread cake pieces.
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Chill until ready to serve.