Gingerbread Brownie Trifle

with Peppermint Cream cheese!

I have been Christmas spirits since 1st December, and why not! It has been a lonngggg year, and with most of the COVID-19 restrictions lifted here in Melbourne, I am so ready for the holidays. This month I have dedicated to Christmas special desserts, obviously! I am planning to use atleast one Christmas flavour or element in my desserts for this month. So to start with this month's desserts, I have made Gingerbread Brownie with Peppermint cream cheese Trifle. Does that sound yum enough?? Now for the Christmas elements, can it be any more Christmas-sy than gingerbread cookies and peppermint candy canes? Both of them are very strong flavours, so to calm them down, I have used cream cheese, which will cut through their spice-ness.

Another special thing about this dessert is that I have used my egg-less version for the gingerbread brownies. Mine is a vegetarian household, so we do not keep or use eggs; but I sometimes use them in my desserts. I honestly don't feel any difference in terms of flavour if I do or do not use eggs. So I use yogurt instead of eggs when making cakes or brownies. Surprised?? Try this substitution and let me know what you think. For the Spiced cream cheese, I have used the recipe from my Carrot Cupcakes recipe here, I just added some unsalted butter with the cream cheese. I really liked the flavours, and so thought to reuse it here again. And for the extract, always to the rescue is Queen Foods. They have such a vast variety for all your baking needs. I used this extract from Woolworths.

This is a very simple and easy recipe, especially handy when you are entertaining your large group of friends and family over the Christmas holidays. Easy to make, assemble and serve, and super delicious. I have uploaded #reels on my Instagram page for this recipe, so do remember to check that out.

If you do make the Trifle, do not forget to tag me and let me know how they turned out 😊

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Serves: 4

Ingredients

Gingerbread Brownies Peppermint Trifle

2 Cups All Purpose Flour

1 Cup Dutch processed Cocoa powder

1 Cup Brown Sugar

1½ Cup Caster Sugar

1 tsp Baking powder

1 tsp Salt

1 tbsp Coffee powder

½ Cup Yogurt

1 Cup Unsalted butter, melted

½ Cup Chocolate, melted

1 tsp Nutmeg, ground

1 tsp Cinnamon, ground

1 tsp Ginger, ground

1 Cup Crushed Gingerbread cookies

2 Cups Cream Cheese

2 Cups Spiced Buttercream

1 Cup Sugar

1 tsp Peppermint extract

2 Cups Chocolate ganache

1 Cup Gingerbread cookies, crushed

½ Cup Peppermint Candy cane, crushed

Directions

Gingerbread Brownies Peppermint Trifle

1. Preheat the oven to 200C (390F) or 180C (350F) for a fan forced oven. Grease the 9” or 20 cm Square pan and line it with parchment paper.

2. Sift the flour and cocoa powder in a mixing bowl.

3. Add in the sugars, salt, baking powder and coffee powder, spice powders, crushed cookies and mix well.

4. Add in the yogurt and melted butter. Mix well, till no dry ingredients are visible.

5. Add in the melted chocolate, and mix well and fold into the batter.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

7. Bake for 30 mins(for gooey brownies) or 40-45 mins for fudgy brownies.

8. Once baked, let the brownie cool down for 15-20 minutes before cutting.

9. In a small bowl, add in the cream cheese, spiced buttercream, sugar and peppermint extract; and mix well till smooth.

10. For assembly, in serving glass place few pieces of brownies, top it with spiced cream cheese, then crushed peppermint candies, crushed cookies, and then ganache. Repeat if required.

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