Saturday, December 6, 2008

Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle

I spend a lot of time on the What's Cooking message board on The Nest. And on this board I've met a lot of great women and made some great friends. Five of us are from central NJ so we decided to get together for a potluck lunch and spend some time together in person. Everyone made a dish and we gathered at my house to eat, drink and be merry. Colleen brought the pizza pockets appetizer (and a delicious loaf of pumpkin chocolate chip bread as a hostess gift for me - thanks, Colleen!), Jenn brought the entree of chicken marsala, Lauren brought a marsala orzo and Sarah delivered a broccoli casserole. Everything was so good! My contribution to the meal was hot apple toddies and dessert. I tossed around many dessert ideas before settling on this pumpkin gingerbread trifle that I found on Melissa's blog. I liked that it had seasonal flavors and could be made the night before. Plus it looked delicious!

I put this dessert together Friday night, and it attracted a lot of attention from the get-go from Joe and my brother-in-law John. They were fascinated seeing it come together, but then ultimately disappointed when I told them they couldn't dig in. (Well, and John was fascinated by my trifle bowl, because when he first walked in the house he thought it was a giant wine glass and got excited.) Not only is this trifle easy to put together, it makes a really pretty presentation. Oh - and it tastes awesome! I followed the directions fairly closely, except I used fat free pudding and fat free Cool Whip. I also omitted the brown sugar. I realized once I started making the dessert that I was out of brown sugar, but after tasting the pudding/pumpkin mixture I realized you would never miss it! It's definitely sweet enough without it.

I really, really liked this! The flavors are perfect together and I love the cool and creamy texture of the pudding and Cool Whip. I had a helping of this after lunch, then another (slightly larger) helping after dinner tonight. This dessert is a winner - and it makes a TON so it's perfect to bring to a party or potluck. Or a nice afternoon with friends - thanks, ladies! Let's do it again soon!

Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle

2 (14-ounce) packages gingerbread mix
1 (5.1-ounce) box cook-and-serve vanilla pudding mix (I used instant)
1 (30-ounce) can pumpkin pie filling
1/2 cup packed brown sugar (I omitted)
1/3 teaspoon ground cardamom or cinnamon
1 (12-ounce) container frozen whipped topping
1/2 cup gingersnaps, optional (I used pecans)

Bake the gingerbread according to the package directions; cool completely. Meanwhile, prepare the pudding and set aside to cool. Stir the pumpkin pie filling, sugar, and cardamom into the pudding. Crumble 1 batch of gingerbread into the bottom of a large, pretty bowl. Pour 1/2 of the pudding mixture over the gingerbread, then add a layer of whipped topping. Repeat with the remaining gingerbread, pudding, and whipped topping. Sprinkle of the top with crushed gingersnaps, if desired. Refrigerate overnight. Trifle can be layered in a punch bowl.


8 comments:

Sarah - The Home Cook said...

This trifle was so delicious! Thank you so much for hosting, Brooke. :)

Unknown said...

Wow...I bet that's yummy!

Colleen said...

This was delicious! thanks for making it for our GTG - and hosting!

Pamela said...

Oh, yikes...that looks dangerously good!

What's Cookin Chicago said...

This trifle looks awesome and beautiful with the different layers!

Katrina said...

That looks YUMMY!

Maria said...

The trifle looks fantastic. I love all of the layers!

Kelsey said...

I love this recipe! I made it for a work potluck four years ago and it is requested every year. It's so easy, I just can't say no!