Chocolate Cranberry Orange Trifle

Posted on by Ben | Havocinthekitchen
Chocolate Cranberry Orange Trifle

This Chocolate Cranberry Orange Trifle is a rich and luscious dessert packed with holiday flavours! It’s chocolatey, sweet, and refreshing – a lovely combination to enjoy around the holidays. It’s also relatively easy and quick to make. So if you are still looking for a Christmas dessert, look no further then!

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Chocolate Cranberry Orange Trifle

Hello everyone – I hope you are doing well. Do you feel (and enjoy) the positive pre-holiday vibe? Or is it more the-holiday-hectic-vibe? for you? :)

I know it’s kind of too late to share with you a dessert, but this one was too good to hide it from you. It is not exactly a last-minute dessert, I admit. But you can make its elements ahead and quickly assemble when ready to serve. The flavours are classic but nothing short of festive and spectacular! Chocolate, cranberries, and oranges – who can resist? Did I also mention that there’s a generous splash of Cointreau – in every single layer!

Chocolate Cranberry Orange Trifle

This trifle consists of three layers (elements):

– Rich and decadent brownies infused with festive flavours like spices, citrus zest, and vanilla. It’s a big brownie (Baked in a 9,5 by 9,5-inch pan) while you will need only a part of it for the trifle. But needless to say it is terrific on its own, so you won’t have any issues with the leftovers. Indeed, you might need to keep an eye on it as it could disappear before even getting to the trifle!

And while I would recommend to make this from scratch, you can definitely use a store-bought brownies to make this almost effortless! But please bear in mind that my version of brownies is only subtly sweet compared to most recipes and product. If you have a very sweet brownies, you might need to adjust the sweetness of two other elements.

– White Chocolate Cream Cheese Layer – so smooth and silky, with a hint of vanilla and Cointreau. You can also make it 1-2 days ahead, but fair warning – the container could be empty by the time you are ready to make the trifle! Hide all spoons in your kitchen! :)

– Cranberry sauce – a luscious and spiced and with a distinctive orange flavour coming from Cointreau.

Ratio of Layers and Leftovers

Slice the leftover brownies, refrigerate, and enjoy throughout the holidays. You can serve them with any leftovers of the cream cheese and cranberry layers.

The ratio of all thee layers is approximate, so please feel free to adjust to your liking. For instance, my husband suggested that there was not enough of the cream cheese layer. Please your intuition when assembling the trifle and serve any leftovers in separate small bowls. In this case everyone you share the table with, will be able add an extra spoon of this or that!

Easy Holiday Dessert Recipes

Are you interested in more easy holiday recipes? Here we go!

Christmas Brigadeiro

Candy Cane Chocolate Truffles

Candy Cane Cookies

Cointreau Truffles

Christmas Gingerbread Tiramisu

Cranberry Trifle

Pistachio Panettone Trifle

Cranberry Rosemary Madeleines

I hope you like this Chocolate Cranberry Orange Trifle, and you will make it try. If you make it, let me know in this post or send me an Instagram message or share your photos adding the hashtag #havocinthekitchen.

Cheers and happy holidays!

Chocolate Cranberry Orange Trifle
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Chocolate Cranberry Orange Trifle

Recipe by Ben | HavocinthekitchenCourse: Dessert
Servings

6-10

servings
Prep time

10

minutes
Cooking time

20

minutes
Resting u0026 cooling time

2-10

hours
Baking time

20-30

minutes

A Christmas trifle made of spiced brownies, silky white chocolate cream cheese cream, and a luscious orange cranberry sauce.

Ingredients

  • Brownies

  • 1 cup butter, cubed

  • 300 gr. dark or extra dark chocolate, roughly shopped

  • 4 eggs

  • 1/3 cup old-fashioned brown sugar

  • 1/2 – 2/3 tsp. salt

  • 1 cup flour, sifted

  • 1/3 cup dark unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

  • zest of 1 orange or 2 clementines

  • 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

  • 3 tbsp. Cointreau

  • 1 tsp. ginger

  • 1 tsp. cinnamon

  • 1/2 tsp. nutmeg

  • 1/2 tsp. cardamom

  • White Chocolate Cream Cheese Layer

  • 1/2 cup cream (10% or 18%)

  • 250 gr. cream cheese

  • 100-150 gr. white chocolate, roughly chopped

  • 1 vanilla pod, split and seeds removed

  • 2-3 tbsp. Cointreau

  • Cranberry Cointreau Sauce

  • 4 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

  • 1/4 cup honey

  • 1/4 cup orange juice

  • 1/3 cup Cointreau, roughly divided

  • 2 tbsp. orange zest

  • 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

  • 1/2 tsp. ginger

  • 1/4 tsp. nutmeg

  • a small pinch of clove

Directions

  • Brownies
  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line ~ a 9,5 by 9,5-inch (~24 cm) baking pan with aluminum foil or parchment and let it overhang the ends. Lightly grease to coat.
  • In a medium saucepan melt the butter and chocolate over low-medium heat, stirring with a wooden spatula often (As the chocolate can stick to the bottom.)
  • Remove from heat and let it cool few minutes. Stir in the sugar, spices, zest, salt, Cointreau, and vanilla extract. Mix with a spatula, until the sugar dissolves. .
  • Beat in the eggs, one at a time, vigorously mixing the mixture.
  • Stir in the flour and cocoa powder, just until combined. Do not overmix. The batter should look sticky and moist (If a bit dry, you can add in a bit more of melted chocolate, milk, or simply water – about 1 tsp. or so.)
  • Transfer the batter into the prepared baking pan. Bake (middle rack) for about 20 minutes, then begin checking frequently for doneness. When the center top is barely firm, insert a toothpick in the center – it should come out mostly clean, with a few fudgy crumbs. It’s always better to underbake than overbake the brownies, if you love fudgy and creamy brownies. If you prefer cakey texture, bake few minutes longer.
  • Remove the brownies from the oven. Let stand until warm, about 20 minutes then refrigerate until ready to assemble the Trifle, at least few hours – preferably overnight.
  • White Chocolate Cream Cheese Layer
  • In a small heavy-bottomed pan or saucepan bring the cream and cream cheese to a simmer over medium heat. Add the white chocolate and simmer for 3-5 minutes, whisking occasionally, until smooth and incorporated. Remove from heat and let cool a bit. Stir in the Cointreau and vanilla seeds. You can make this sauce 2-3 days ahead and keep it refrigerated until ready to serve.
  • Cranberry Cointreau Sauce
  • In a medium pan combine the cranberries, honey, 1/4 cup Cointreau, orange juice, orange zest, and spices. Simmer for about 5-7 minutes, until berries are soft and bursting.
  • Add the remaining Cointreau (For the added flavour) and cook just for 30 seconds. Off heat and cool completely before refrigerating. You can also make this in advance – the sauce will be fine refrigerated for up to 5-7 days
  • Tips and Assembling
  • I used two medium-small (~800 ml. each) bowls, and had at least a half of the brownies and some both cream cheese (about 1/3 cup left) and cranberry sauces (more than a cup left). So you can either make a large trifle or serve the sauce leftovers in small separate bowls so when serving the trifle, people can add some extra topping to their plates.
  • I used about 300 gr. of the crumbled brownies, about 1 and 1/2 cup of cranberry sauce, and about 2/3 cup of the cream cheese sauce per each 800-ml bowl. Please feel free to adjust the layers to your preferences.
  • You can serve them right away, but for the best result I’d recommend chilling it for an hour or so. Garnish as desired and enjoy!

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