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This magnificent gingerbread trifle will feed — and wow — a crowd. It makes a festive holiday dessert that bursts with the flavors and colors of the season. And it’s super make-ahead friendly.
Why we love this recipe
Way back in 2005, when you could still learn how to cook from your average Food Network show, I watched an episode Bobby Flay‘s Boy Meets Grill called Holiday Celebration.
He made a gingerbread trifle with lemon curd and blackberry sauce. And then, so did I. People really liked it.
This gingerbread trifle is:
- A little bit delightfully different from your average Christmas dessert, at least in the U.S.
- A little bit delightfully different from your average trifle recipe, too. The combination of generously spiced gingerbread; rich, tangy lemon curd; pillowy whipped cream; and vibrant blackberry sauce somehow manages to feel both pleasantly traditional and new.
- Make-ahead friendly. It actually improves with overnight rest. (Don’t we all?)
- Big enough to feed a crowd.
- Honestly kind of a conversation starter, if you’re into that sort of thing.
How I made the original recipe even better
Right off the bat, I made a couple of key changes to Bobby Flay’s recipe. And over the years, I’ve tweaked it a bit more, to make it perfect.
- You’ll make your own lemon curd, which makes ALL the difference.
- Lemon curd and lightly sweetened whipped cream each get their own layer in this version, which gives you bursts of bright lemon curd flavor and a gorgeous, contrasting color scheme.
- You’ll omit the crystallized ginger from the original recipe, because it’s just toooooooo much.
- I’ve clarified the instructions by a whole lot.
- And I’ve added a jewel-toned pomegranate garnish — to name a few.
What you’ll need
Here’s a glance at the ingredients you’ll need to make each of the elements of this gingerbread trifle with lemon curd.
For the gingerbread cake
- A simple, generous, and well-balanced mix of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove provide the gingerbread spice.
- Molasses plays several roles in this recipe. It contributes: a complex, earthy sweetness, acidity (which works with the leavening agents), and liquid.
- Light brown sugar adds the bulk of the sweetness and a bit of additional moisture.
- A little bit of lemon zest provides a subtle, bright contrast and ties the cake together with the lemon curd.
- You can use salted or unsalted butter. I like to use a good cultured, salted butter for the vastly superior flavor. It sounds fancy but doesn’t have to be. Kerrygold, for example, is widely sold in supermarkets for a reasonable price.
- Because there’s plenty of acidity in the batter, you’ll use baking soda as the leavening agent. Don’t confuse it with baking powder — they are not interchangeable.
For the lemon curd
- A combination of whole eggs and egg yolks gives the curd a creamy, versatile structure that spreads well and also holds its own in a tart or as a cake filling. It also contributes a nice dose of protein.
- A mix of freshly squeezed lemon juice and lime juice creates a nuanced, vibrant citrus flavor profile that still tastes just like lemon.
- A microplane rasp makes the perfect, finely grated lemon zest. Zesting directly over the bowl lets the citrus oils settle right back into the mixture, contributing tons of great flavor.
- You can use salted or unsalted butter. I use salted Kerrygold for the excellent flavor.
For the blackberry sauce
- You can use fresh or frozen blackberries. In most parts of the world, especially at Christmastime, you’ll get the best berries in the freezer section. They’re flash-frozen right after harvesting at their peak.
- Framboise is a mild-tasting raspberry liqueur. A couple of tablespoons give the sauce a lovely, gentle complexity. If you don’t want to buy a whole bottle just to use a few tablespoons, you can substitute juice (think cranberry or berry blend) or another berry-flavored liqueur.
- You’ll use regular granulated sugar.
For the whipped cream
- Heavy cream (or heavy whipping cream) creates the base. Choose the best-quality one you can. For taste, health, and environmental reasons, I always buy organic heavy cream.
- A little bit of pure vanilla extract flavors the whipped cream beautifully.
- You’ll use regular granulated sugar.
How to make it
First things first: promise me you won’t be intimidated by this recipe. There are quite a few ingredients and quite a few elements. But it’s totally doable, and totally worth it. See the video and step-by-step photos for detailed visuals.
Here’s an overview of the basic steps:
- Make a half-sheet pan of gingerbread. This is just like making any other sheet cake, albeit with a ton of flavor.
- Make lemon curd. You’ll be using a few cool kitchen techniques for this part of the recipe: separating eggs, using a double boiler, whisking a lot, keeping a close eye on the temperature of the curd with an instant-read thermometer, and then emulsifying butter into the mixture. Check out my video and step-by-step instructions to see how it all works.
- Whip some cream to the soft-peak stage, along with a few flavorings.
- Simmer some blackberries with sugar, fancy it up with a little lemon juice and raspberry liqueur, and then give it all a whirl in the blender. You can strain the sauce to remove the seeds if you like, but you don’t have to. I usually don’t.
- Then, the most-fun part: layer everything into a beautiful, delicious gingerbread trifle.
Make the gingerbread
Here’s an overview of what you’ll do to make a big pan of gingerbread cake. You can see the steps in action in the video that accompanies this post, and get all the details in the recipe card below.
- First you’ll prepare the pan, then sift together the dry ingredients.
- Beat together the butter, brown sugar, eggs, molasses, and hot water.
- Gently mix in the dry ingredients. Pour and then spread batter onto the prepared pan.
- Bake the gingerbread and let it cool. Flip it onto a cutting board and cut into squares.
Make the elements & assemble the gingerbread trifle
And here’s a very brief overview of what you’ll do to make the lemon curd, blackberry sauce, and whipped cream, and to assemble the trifle. There’s lots more detail in the video, and, of course, in the recipe card below.
- First you’ll make the best batch of lemon curd you’ve ever tasted. You can do this several days in advance if you like (or up to a year in advance if you’re really on top of things, since lemon curd freezes well).
- The blackberry sauce comes together quickly and easily, with a spin on the stove and then in the blender. I don’t usually bother straining the seeds out of the sauce (partly because a high-speed blender breaks them down pretty well), but you can strain it through a fine-mesh sieve if you like.
- Make the whipped cream right before assembly time.
- To assemble, you’ll layer the ingredients in your trifle bowl at least four hours before serving time — preferably the night before. Cover and chill!
Expert tips and FAQs
When whipped cream is at the soft peak stage: If you turn the whisk or beater upside down, the whipped cream will form a point that stands up for an instant and then gently folds over onto itself. The photo above shows what it looks like.
You can, and you should! The flavors and textures of this gingerbread trifle will improve with a night’s rest in the fridge. Make sure to chill it for at least four hours, preferably a full 24. Leftovers will keep in the fridge for a week. You can cover the trifle bowl tightly and store it right in there if you’ve got room for it, so as not to disturb the layers.
More favorite Christmas desserts
Gingerbread trifle is wonderfully flavorful and indulgent. It feeds about 12 people. But if I’m hosting a big Christmas, I like to offer a variety of desserts, including some lighter ones.
As a nice dessert trio, I’d recommend also serving:
- Chocolate-dipped peppermint meringue cookies (which make great gifts, too!)
- And an epic fruit platter
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Gingerbread Trifle with Lemon Curd and Blackberry Sauce
Equipment
Ingredients
For the gingerbread
- Cooking spray
- 3 cups (360 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 ¼ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon ground cloves
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 10 tablespoons (140 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup packed, (200 grams) brown sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup molasses
- 1 cup boiling water
- Zest of 1 lemon
For the lemon curd
For the whipped cream
- 2 cups (473 ml) heavy cream
- ¼ cup (50 grams) sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the blackberry sauce
- 10 ounces (285 grams) frozen blackberries
- ¼ cup (50 grams) sugar
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) framboise (raspberry liqueur)
- 1 tablespoon (15 ml) fresh lemon juice
- ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
To garnish
- ½ cup pomegranate seeds, optional
Instructions
To make the gingerbread
- Preheat oven to 350°F with a rack in the center. Spray a half-sheet pan with cooking spray, line it with a piece of parchment paper, and spray the paper too.
- Into a large bowl, sift together the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and salt.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the butter with the paddle attachment on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.
- Add brown sugar and beat until combined with the butter, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time.
- Lower the mixing speed to medium-low and pour in the molasses. Beat until incorporated.
- Carefully beat in hot water.
- Lower mixing speed to low and gradually spoon in the flour mixture, along with the lemon zest. Mix just until combined.
- Pour batter onto prepared baking sheet and smooth with a spatula.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a tester comes out clean.
- Let gingerbread cool in the pan set over a cooling rack.
- Once cooled, remove cake from pan. (If you have a large cutting board, you can place it directly on top of the sheet pan and flip the whole thing over to release the gingerbread onto the cutting board.)
- Peel off parchment paper and cut gingerbread into 1-inch squares.
To make the lemon curd
- Make one batch of lemon curd.
To make the whipped cream
- Pour cream, sugar, and vanilla into a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
- Beat until soft peaks form.
To make the blackberry sauce
- In a small pot, stir together the blackberries and sugar.
- Bring to a simmer over medium-hight heat and cook until sugar dissolves and blackberries are soft.
- Pour blackberry mixture, framboise, lemon juice, and salt into a blender and process until smooth.
- If you like, you can pass the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve to strain out the seeds. I don't typically do this.
To assemble the trifle
- Place an even layer of gingerbread pieces at the bottom of the trifle bowl.
- Drizzle in 1/3 of the lemon curd.
- Spread 1/4 of the whipped cream overtop, to the edges of the bowl.
- Drizzle in 1/3 of the blackberry sauce.
- Repeat with layers of gingerbread, lemon curd, whipped cream, and blackberry sauce, finishing with a layer of whipped cream.
- Chill, covered, for at least four hours. Overnight chilling is best if you have the time.
- Right before serving, if you like, garnish with pomegranate seeds, blackberries, or a little drizzle of blackberry sauce.
Notes
- The flavors and textures of this gingerbread trifle will improve with a night's rest in the fridge. Make sure to chill it for at least four hours, preferably a full 24.
- Leftovers will keep in the fridge for a week. You can cover the trifle bowl tightly and store it right in there if you've got room for it, so as not to disturb the layers.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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