Looking for an impressive centrepiece dessert for a Christmas party? Trifles have have been made as Christmas desserts for centuries, originally hailing from across the pond. This low-carb, keto-friendly version of this holiday classic combines my keto gingerbread loaf, cranberry sauce and whipped cream recipes with an orange cream cheese pudding, and topped with lovely garnishes to make the ultimate holiday trifle that just "tastes like Christmas," as pointed out by my guests.
Keto Holiday Cranberry-Orange Gingerbread Trifle Recipe
Trifle Ingredients:
- Keto Gingerbread Loaf
- Orange Cream Cheese Pudding (*See below)
- Keto Cranberry Sauce, double batch
- Keto whipped cream, one batch
- ⅓ cup sliced almonds or slivered almonds
- ½ cup keto shape-your-own chocolate or other keto-friendly chocolate bar, made into shavings and shards
- A few fresh cranberries
- Ground cinnamon (to taste)
Cream Cheese Orange Cream Ingredients:
- 4 oz cream cheese, room temperature
- ⅔ cup keto instant vanilla pudding mix powder (Or use one small box of sugar-free vanilla pudding mix) (Use the vegan version of my instant pudding recipe or get a vegetarian pudding mix the latter one if making vegetarian.)
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract (*Omit if using a store-bought pudding mix.)
- 2 tablespoons orange zest
- ¼ teaspoon orange extract
- 1¾- 2 cups unsweetened almond milk or other non-dairy milk
- 2 tablespoons vodka
- ½ cup heavy cream
Directions:
Bake the gingerbread loaf 2 days before you plan to serve the trifle. Cut it into cubes and spread them out on a the cutting board. Leave the cubes exposed to air to them dry out for at least 8-12 hours. The drier they are, the more they’ll keep their form in the trifle. Alternatively, you can toast them in a 350F oven for 5 minutes, or until they’re very slightly browned on top. Set aside.
While the gingerbread loaf is baking, make the cranberry sauce and once cooled to room temperature, put it in the fridge to chill and fully set overnight.
The day before you plan to serve the trifle, make the pudding. In a large bowl, prepare the instant pudding mix as per the mix’s instructions, using the amount of non-dairy milk specified on your instant pudding mix’s recipe, (adding in the vanilla extract if using my [keto instant pudding mix powder recipe] (https://feednflow.com/blog/post/keto-friendly-instant-pudding-mix-vanilla--chocolate---keto-low-carb-sugar-free-gluten-free)), orange zest, extract and vodka. Put in the fridge and allow to set. In the bowl of an electric mixer with a whisk (or in a large bowl with a hand mixer), whisk cream cheese until smooth. Add the heavy cream and beat until the mix thickens and is about 50% bigger in volume. Fold the cream mixture into the pudding. Put in the fridge. Then prepare the keto whipped cream.
Construct the trifle in a large glass bowl. Start by adding half the gingerbread loaf cubes, setting aside a few cubes for the top for garnish. Ladle half the pudding over the cubes, spreading it out with a spatula. Now ladle half the cranberry sauce. Repeat the layers.
Top the trifle with the whipped cream smoothing it out with a spatula. Put in the fridge and allow to set overnight.
Add the garnishes close to serving time. The closer the better so that the sliced almonds don’t get soggy. Start by sprinkling the cinnamon over the surface of the whipped cream. Then sprinkle a thin layer of chocolate shavings over all, making a heaver ring of them around the edge of the bowl, adding a few larger shards to make it prettier. Add a ring of sliced almonds around the middle, then add a small ring of gingerbread cubes and the cranberries to the centre.
Present the trifle with a large spoon or spatula so that when people “dig in” then can get some of all the layers into their serving.
Did you make this keto holiday cranberry-orange gingerbread trifle recipe? If so, please let me know how it turned out in the comments. Or if you share pics of your creations on Instagram, please tag me so I can see them. Enjoy! :)
