The holidays are that wonderful time of year where we don’t worry about eating healthy and just love to make delicious food for all of our friends and family to enjoy. It also is one of the busiest times of the year, so we like to try and make things ahead, making our lives just a little bit easier during those get-togethers. This is exactly why we love the Chocolate Berry Trifle.

Chocolately goodness that is able to be made ahead, is decadent enough to impress and looks ever-so-fancy all layered together – sign us up! We love the fact that it isn’t just delicious (and beautiful), but that we can easily prep this ahead of time and have one less thing to do day of (thank goodness). For this delightful dessert, we’ve partnered with our friends at Spud.ca to get all of the ingredients delivered to our door – again, making our lives easier and leaving more time to spend with our family and friends. Win-win all around!

INGREDIENTS

3 cups whipping cream
8 stemless wine tumbler glasses
4 pints of berries (assorted)

For the brownies:
1 cup butter, melted
2 cups sugar
1 cup cocoa powder
1 1/3 cup flour
5 eggs

For the pudding: (or just use premade pudding – about 2.5 cups)
3 egg yolks
9 oz semi-sweet baking chocolate, chopped
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
6 tbs butter

INSTRUCTIONS

First – start with the brownies. Preheat the oven to 350F.

Mix together the melted butter, sugar and cocoa. Beat in the eggs one at a time until the mixture is smooth. Mix in the flour until fully incorporated and pour into a parchment-lined (grease the sides of the pan, then stick the parchment to it for best results) pan 9×13 inch pan. Evenly distribute the batter in the pan and bake for about 25-30 mins or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out clean. Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, start on the pudding. You can also substitute this for a premade pudding if you would like, but we decided to make ours from scratch (its actually easier than you think). In a medium sized saucepan, heat the milk and whipping cream until it is starting to steam. In a small bowl, separate 3 eggs so you have just the egg yolks (discard the whites or use them for something else later). Slowly whisk in about 1 cup of the heated milk to temper the eggs. Take the egg/milk mixture and slowly whisk it back into the remaining milk. Heat the mixture for another 5 mins until it every so slightly starts to thicken. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate and butter. Whisk it in until the chocolate is fully melted – place back on the heat briefly if you have trouble getting it to melt. Place it in the fridge for about 30 mins to cool.

Next, whisk the whipping cream with a stand or hand mixer until soft peaks form and then get ready to start layering your dessert. Get out your 8 wine tumbler glasses (or whatever else you wish to use), the berries, the brownies and the pudding.

To cut the brownies, lift all edges of the parchment paper up from the baking pan until the brownies release from the bottom. Place on a cutting board to cut and cut into about 1-inch squares.

Now, start to layer your trifle. We’re going to do 2 layers, so with each ingredient use about half of it for each layer (amongst the 8 glasses) – reserving a few berries for the topping at the end. Remember to do this at least 4 hours before your meal, or up to 2 days prior.

Start with placing a few of the brownie squares on the bottom of each glass so it just covers it. Layer with a sprinkling of berries and then a layer of pudding. For each layer, make sure you can see it on the edges of the glass to give the pretty layering effect. Add a layer of whipping cream and repeat (so – brownie, berries, pudding, whipping cream, brownie, berries, pudding, whipping cream). Once you have layered all your glasses, finish them off with a few berries on top (just to look pretty). Place them in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours and serve when you’re ready.

Enjoy!

Serves 8